Why Don't You and I
by thedreamygirl
Summary: AU. Haley is a 23 year old single mom, Nathan lives in the nextdoor apartment. Over the years he's practically become like a father to her kids, but when will they finally get together? It's going to take some 'help' from their friends. NH JP LB COMPLETE
1. Perfect Time Of Day

**Why Don't You and I**

Summary: AU. Haley is a 23 year old single mom, Nathan lives in the next-door apartment. Over the years he's practically become like a father to her kids, but when will they finally get together? It's going to take some 'help' from their friends... NH JP some LB

A/N: AU details. The main teens in the show are all 23 in this fic, except Lucas who is 26. Lucas and Nathan are full brothers (parents Dan and Deb) and are the only ones originally from Tree Hill. Dan still owns Dan Scott Motors, but Keith owns a hardware store. Haley and Jake are step brother and sister but were friends before their parents got married so they are close. They both lived in Charleston. Haley got pregnant in her first semester of college, so she dropped out and moved to Tree Hill.

A/N 2: I've written and posted a lot of fan fiction, but this is my first One Tree Hill. Please read and review!

**Chapter One**

Nathan Scott switched off his computer and headed to his kitchen to see if there was something to eat. Of course, there wasn't. He had better things to do than go to the supermarket. This meant take-out. If only he could locate the telephone. Cleaning up his one-bedroom apartment wasn't high up on his list of things to do either.

While he was trying to find the phone, Nathan heard a noise, like someone had hit the wall 3 times, coming from outside of his living room. He chuckled to himself, knowing perfectly well who it was. He walked over to where the noise came from and hit the wall twice, the correct reply to the 'code'. As soon as he had done this a shrill voice yelled, "Nathan!"

"Yes?"

"Mummy's ruined dinner again!"

Nathan laughed again, but instead of replying, he grabbed his keys and walked out of his apartment. He turned to the left, out of his door, to face the door of the apartment next door. Before he knocked on the door, it was opened by a little girl who couldn't have been much more than 4 years old. Her name was Annie James. There was a slight bruise on her face from when she had last had a fight with her brother, but this was mostly covered by her long dark wavy hair, just like her mother. However, unlike her usually cheery mother, Annie had a scowl on her face.

"What happened?" Nathan asked her, stepping into the house and shutting the door behind him.

"She put the dinner in and it came out burnt. With smoke and everything"

Nathan didn't have much experience with microwaves - unless it was re-heating leftover take-out - but he was pretty sure that you couldn't burn something badly in one. He said this to Annie. She was about to tell him otherwise, when the sprinkler system went off.

"Oh."

Annie raised her eyebrows up at him.

Nathan walked through the living room and into the kitchen. He then found his neighbour trying to get her son down from the kitchen worktop. This was no easy task since the worktop was quite wide and whenever she got to one side, he would run in the other. Plus, the sprinklers still hadn't turned off, and Michael had a lot more energy than his mother. Neither had noticed Nathan yet and he used this to his advantage when he walked over to them, and very easily lifted Michael off the table and set him on the ground. The little boy stared blankly at him for a few seconds and ran off, breaking into song - _"I'm singing in the rain..."_ - but then ended abruptly, when the water stopped.

Haley James smiled her thanks. "What are you doing here Nathan?"

"Annie said you burnt dinner."

"Oh." Haley blushed. It wasn't the first occasion this had happened - she'd been living next door to him since Annie and Michael were a few months old, but she didn't want Nathan to think she was a ditz. He probably didn't as they were friends, and he wasn't currently available anyway, but still. He was one good-looking guy. "I don't suppose you would believe me if I told you it wasn't true?" Haley joked, forcing her mind not to wonder.

Nathan smiled. "Maybe. At least, before the sprinklers went off."

Haley giggled. "Yeah."

He walked over to her, and looked at the microwave. The door was barely open, but a lot of black smoke was still coming out, despite the sprinklers. Nathan moved closer to the microwave.

"Nathan, what are you doing?" Haley exclaimed.

"Well, you can't leave it in there forever."

Nathan put on the oven gloves that were on a stool and slowly removed the dish from the microwave. This took longer than he anticipated, since Haley made him move very slowly, fearing he would burn himself. Finally, though, he got it out, and set it down on the heat mat Haley had placed on the counter before. He fanned it until the smoke reduced and then took off the oven gloves. Both Nathan and Haley stared at the dish for a few more moments. In the place of food, there was a brown mass of...something.

"What was it supposed to be?" Nathan asked.

"Um...I can't remember now," Haley said, apologetically.

"Well," Nathan said, smiling, "it looks like mud."

"Yeah," Haley agreed. "Only of thicker consistency. And, it's also a slightly deeper brown than mud."

Nathan stared at her somewhat incredulously. She always said the strangest things. It was actually one of the reasons he liked hanging out with her. Life with Haley James was anything but boring. "You have a fascination with mud?" he teased.

"No!" she looked down, blushing. As a redhead, Haley blushed a lot. But, she had realised, for some reason, the person she blushed around most was Nathan. "It was just an observation."

"An observation? Of mud?"

Haley looked up at him to protest, but this proved to be a mistake as he was smirking at her. This caused her to blush once more, and she silently prayed that hadn't noticed. He had. He thought it was cute. Of course, Haley wasn't exactly aware of this. She tried to think of something to say, but before she could, she felt something tugging on her jeans. She looked down, and saw her son Michael pulling at them.

"Mummy, I'm hungry! What are we having for dinner?"

Haley sighed. "I guess we'll have to get take-out."

"Yay!" Michael cried. "We're having take-out!"

Annie, having heard this from the living room, came running in. "Can Nathan stay for dinner?"

Haley looked back at him, questioningly.

"Sure," he replied. "I was going to get take-out for myself, anyway."

"Alright," Haley said, glad he'd agreed. She spent so much of her time taking care of Annie and Michael, she was always happy for the company of grown-ups. But Nathan's company was especially...entertaining. "What'll it be then, pizza or Chinese?"

Annie and Michael looked at each other for a moment. Then they both looked back at Haley and said, "Chinese!"

"Okay, so I'll get the usual, Nathan what do you want?"

"Oh, my usual."

"Okay," Haley smiled and left the kitchen to get to the phone. Unlike Nathan, she knew where hers was. "Oh, and, kids?" she called, as she began to dial.

"Yes?" Annie said, from where she was, still in the kitchen with Michael and Nathan.

"Don't forget you can only have take-out once a week, so no more until next week okay?"

"But-" Nathan began.

"Sshh!" Annie placed a finger to her lips.

"No buts!" Haley called, thinking Michael had been about to protest.

Nathan could hear that Haley had started speaking to the people at the restaurant, so he looked down at the two children in front of him. "But, you two had pizza for dinner the day before yesterday when I looked after you, 'cause your mum had to go out."

"She doesn't need to know that," Michael said with conviction, and Annie looked up at Nathan so innocently he knew he would cave.

Haley walked back into the kitchen and announced that their dinner would arrive in 20 minutes. Michael and Annie then went to watch TV until dinner, leaving Nathan and Haley alone in the kitchen.

"Want some coffee?" Haley offered.

"As long as it's not burnt or made of mud," Nathan joked, sliding onto a stool at the worktop.

Haley glared back at him as she began to make their coffee, but not before Nathan saw red creeping up her cheeks.

When the coffee was ready, she sat down opposite him and the two chatted about the usual topics; work, friends, family. Nathan wrote for the sports section of the local newspaper, while Haley worked at a café. This wouldn't have been enough for her to take care of herself and both her children, but she was supported by her parents. Plus, her step-brother Jake Jagielski always 'accidentally' left money when he came to visit. He was engaged to Peyton Sawyer, his college girlfriend. He and Peyton had met through Haley since they had been roommates at Duke, until Haley got pregnant in her first semester and had to drop out. Haley was always surprised when she remembered that Jake and Peyton had never met Nathan, considering they had grown so close. Now that, Peyton and Jake had bought a house in Tree Hill, she hoped that they would soon. She really wanted them to like him, but had a hard time figuring out why. Haley had never met Nathan's brother Lucas either, but that was because he was always traveling, in his work for their dad. Nathan wasn't very close to Lucas or any of his family really, Haley had learnt. The only people he ever liked talking about were his Uncle Keith and Aunt Karen.

Pretty soon, they ran out of polite chit chat, when Haley remembered someone she hadn't asked about.

"So how's Brooke?" Haley asked, referring to Nathan's girlfriend of the past 3 months. She had first met Brooke in a rather awkward situation; a week into the relationship, when Haley had gone over to Nathan's to borrow some sugar. It was early morning and Haley hadn't wanted to wake up Nathan - or rather, she knew Nathan wouldn't answer the door if she rang the bell since - she had used the key he gave her to get in and tiptoed to the kitchen. This was where she ran into Brooke, who had been trying, albeit unsuccessfully, to find something edible in Nathan's fridge. The situation wasn't actually that embarrassing - at least, once explained - but what Haley had really been most embarrassed about was her attire. Brooke had been wearing a lacy black nightdress. And Haley? Oh yeah, that'd be shorts and her old sesame street t-shirt. Haley still cringed at the memory.

Nathan just had time to reply that she was "okay", when the doorbell rang, indicating the arrival of their food. Haley and Nathan walked out of the kitchen and through the living room to answer the door. They heard a snippet of the children's conversation.

"Xena Warrior Princess kicks ass!" Michael commented.

Haley glared at Nathan.

"I didn't teach him that!"


	2. She Says

A/N: Thanks to the awesome reviews I got I decided to update soon! Don't worry Brooke and Nathan won't be together for long (I hate BN stories), and **hilaryhilary** is right, the dad is not someone on the show – you find out in this chapter. Well, enjoy! And keep up the excellent reviews!

**Chapter 2**

Haley slouched against the door to her apartment in resignation. It was Saturday, and had been her turn to work the all-day shift at the cafe. Completely exhausted, she just wanted to lie on the couch, eat ice cream and fall asleep watching Bewitched reruns. Not that Michael and Annie would ever let her do that. However, so far she hadn't even been able to get in since she couldn't find her key. After five minutes of fumbling around in her purse she remembered that Peyton was there so she could just ring the doorbell. She did so and waited. When no one answered she rang the door bell again. And again. Now, on the fourth ring, Haley was alternately cursing the fact that she hadn't charged her cell phone and that her children had the television on so loud.

Finally, Peyton came to the door. She opened it and started speaking so rapidly, that even if Haley hadn't been tired, she still wouldn't have been able to understand her. When Peyton finished Haley asked, "What?"

"I was in the bathroom."

"Oh." Then she dragged herself inside the apartment. Haley shrugged out of her coat and placed her bag down next to the stand. The two of them made their way to the kitchen, where Peyton started making coffee as Haley sat down at the worktop. "Were the children okay?"

"Oh, they were fine. Although, they did annoy Jake a bit when he came over for lunch."

"How come?"

"Oh, nothing much," Peyton giggled. "They just told him that they liked me better because I was cooler."

Haley laughed. "Michael said he wants to be able to draw 'as good as you'."

Peyton smiled. "I know, he told me earlier today." Peyton worked as an artist for a comic book company. She had started it as a side job at college. Now, she drew full-time, but since she only needed to send them the drawings, she could work from anywhere.

"What did Jake think of that?"

"He said that while he would have been flattered if Michael had wanted to be like him, Jake couldn't exactly blame him for not wanting to be an accountant."

Haley agreed. She soon forgot how tired she was as they fell deep into conversation, mostly regarding preparations for Peyton's impending nuptials. Jake had proposed before their final semester at college, and they hoped to get married by early next year. Haley was going to be the maid of honour, of course. However, the whole time they were talking, Peyton looked like she had something on her mind. Haley finally decided to ask her about it. "Peyt, is there something you want to talk about?"

"Now that you mention it..."

"Well?" Haley prompted.

"I met him!" Peyton squealed excitedly.

"Who?"

"Nathan!"

"Nathan?"

"Uh, yeah, Nathan Scott, you next door neighbour."

"I know who Nathan is, Peyton. You just seemed so excited about it; it was like you met Johnny Depp."

"Well, Nathan can't exactly compare to Johnny Depp, but he is younger, and slightly more available."

"But you're not! You're getting married! To my brother! And Nathan's not available either!"

"Why? Do you have dibs on him?" Peyton questioned.

"No! He has a girlfriend!" Haley said, slightly more irritated at Peyton's comments than she would like.

"Oh." Peyton was slightly disappointed. Nathan had seemed like a nice guy for Haley. She decided to continue talking about him anyway. Haley was visibly annoyed and Peyton thought she might still be able to get something out of her. "Well, you didn't tell me he was so cute!"

"Peyton!"

"What? He is cute. And you know I was just teasing you earlier."

Haley calmed down. "Yeah, I know. And he is cute," she added, smiling. "How did you meet him?"

"He came over about half an hour ago to borrow some milk. He said he had run out."

"Nathan always runs out of everything."

Peyton contemplated whether she should continue in this vein, or just jump right to the question she had really wanted to ask. She decided on the latter. "So, Hales, you've been living next to this really great guy for years and you've never once considered asking him out on a date?"

Haley looked up at her friend. "Okay, firstly, I would never ask any guy out on a date, only you have the guts to do that. And, secondly, you only met Nathan for a couple minutes today, how do you know he's a great guy? And...Well, answer that before we get onto what you could possibly be thinking pairing me with Nathan!"

Peyton sighed. "If you don't want to be single for the rest of your life you're gonna have to take some initiative. And the reason I know that Nathan is a good guy is because you have been telling me so ever since you met him."

"Oh. Well, he is a nice guy, but that doesn't mean we should date."

"Okay, Haley. Now, honey, tell me, why don't you want to date the nice, handsome man next door who is not married, has a good job and helps you take care of your children?"

"Uh..." When Peyton phrased it like that it was very hard to disagree. At least until Haley remembered what she decided when she had asked herself the same question many years ago. "It wouldn't work out."

"Please tell me that you did not just say that. That is a classic line used by those in a state of self-denial."

"No, Peyton, it's true. Nathan just dates girls for a few months, and then breaks up and moves to the next. He has more one night stands than girlfriends. He's just not a long-term relationship guy. So, the break up would be especially difficult since we would still have to live next to each other. And Michael and Annie would get hurt."

"Michael and Annie? This is about you, isn't it?"

"No, it's not. They really like Nathan and the break up would be really hard on them."

"Harder than it would be on you?"

Haley was about to come up with an answer to this, when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" Michael yelled from the living room.

"No, you won't," Haley shouted, getting up. "I told you not to open the door if you don't know who it is," Haley said to Michael as she walked through the living room. "It could be a stranger." Her son came up behind her as she opened the door.

"See, Mummy, it was only Nathan," Michael commented before going back to his show.

"Hey, I came to return the milk," he said, holding the bottle out to her. His hair was wet and slightly sticking to his forehead, as if he'd had a shower recently. His polo shirt showed off the muscles in his forearms and he was smiling at her. It was his nice friendly smile, and not the smirk. Although, Haley couldn't say she found that particularly unattractive either.

"Thanks," she replied, slightly less comfortable in his presence than usual after what Peyton had said.

As Haley took the milk back, Peyton came to the door. "Hey Nathan."

"Hi Peyton. Oh," Nathan added, this time speaking to Haley, "my brother dropped by."

"Lucas?"

"Yeah, he got back from Chicago yesterday. Do you wanna meet him?"

"Uh, sure."

"Okay," Nathan smiled again, "I'll be right back." He walked out, and went back to his apartment to get Lucas.

Haley looked sideways at Peyton, expecting a remark. She did not disappoint. "His brother, huh?"

"Yeah. We've never met."

"Hmmm. So, you're finally meeting the in-laws."

"What? How did you go from suggesting us dating to saying we're married!" Haley squealed.

"Hello! He wants you to meet his brother. That's a sure sign. And Michael and Annie love him. It's like in old movies when children always know how to get the adults together."

"Well, this is not some old movie; it's my life, Peyton!"

Peyton just looked knowingly at Haley. She had only seen them for barely two seconds together, but she knew something was definitely there. She took the bottle of milk out of Haley's hands and said, "You don't want to be holding that when you first meet your future brother-in-law," before going back to the kitchen.

Haley stared back incredulously in Peyton's direction for a few moments. Then she set to work on fixing her hair.

"Luke?" Nathan called as he re-entered his house.

"I'm in the kitchen! You really have to go to the supermarket, man."

Nathan walked into the kitchen to find his elder brother leaning against the fridge. "Hey, I wanted to introduce you to my neighbour, she's home now."

"Finally, an introduction to the fabulous Haley James," Lucas said, moving past Nathan.

"What?"

"Dude," Lucas told his brother, "you're always talking about this girl and her kids. It's nice to know you're finally ready to introduce her to the family."

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" But, it was too late. Lucas was already out the door.

Haley was scolding herself for trying to do her hair before Nathan returned, but was also annoyed that she hadn't installed a mirror in the living room. She wondered whether she had time to run into her room and change out of her clothes; the next moment she was scolding herself again for being so concerned with her appearance. She didn't have any time to keep up this inner battle though, since a strange man appeared in her doorway. "You must be Haley." She nodded. "I'm Lucas," he said, holding out his hand.

She shook it, taking in his appearance. He was tall and had blue eyes. But this was where his similarities with Nathan ended. He had short light blonde hair and seemed slightly less reserved than Nathan. Nathan would never act so casual with someone he had never met before. Even if it was his brother's neighbour. "It's nice to meet you," she said.

"Not as nice as it is to finally meet you. Nathan's told me a lot about you," he replied, coming inside the apartment.

"Really?" Haley asked. This simple statement affected her more than she would have liked.

Before Lucas could answer Nathan walked in, followed momentarily by Peyton coming from the kitchen. After Lucas was introduced to Michael and Annie, the four adults went into the kitchen. As the conversation went on Peyton noticed how well Nathan and Haley related with each other. She decided that they were, in short, perfect for each other, but she knew she wouldn't be able to get them together on her own. Jake would never agree to butt into Haley's personal life. He still hadn't met Nathan, and, ever since Riley had left Haley the moment he found out she was pregnant, Jake was much happier when Haley was single. Lucas seemed to like Haley, but Peyton didn't really know him so she didn't think she could ask him. It was only after Lucas and Nathan had left, and she was helping Haley put the kids to sleep that Peyton realised the perfect person help her.


	3. Collide

I realised that I hadn't put a DISCLAIMER in, and even though it would be ridiculous to think I owned OTH, I am supposed to include one so here goes: I own Michael, Annie, and some other minor characters in this fic, but I don't own the OTH, its characters, or anything related to it.

**Chapter Three**

Haley stood in front of the entrance to her apartment block, wondering how to get in. She had just picked up the children from their nursery school, and today had been the day they had to take home the models they had made of farms, complete with miniature farm animals (who knew little kids did so much work?). Annie was carrying her model, but Michael claimed that he could not carry his, because he didn't have enough milk in the morning and therefore not enough 'Cal-say-um'. "Calcium," Haley had corrected him, but had carried his model anyway, even though she knew he was just lazy. Boys.

However, Haley would not be in her current predicament if not for the fact that Peyton had convinced Haley to spend her morning break going shopping. Thus, Haley was faced with the impossible task of entering the building carrying her backpack, a number of shopping bags and one ridiculously large piece of cardboard with lots of things stuck to it. Of course, she would have no help from her children, who had strolled inside ahead of her and started speaking to Peter, the concierge. Haley took a deep breath, walked up to the front door, turned around, and tried to push it open with her backpack, the various shopping bags hanging from her arms, while she held the farm model in her hands. Surprisingly, this was quite successful. At least until Haley slipped on her heel and landed bottom-first inside the building, dropping the model on the ground.

Annie, Michael and Peter up to her. "Mummy, are you okay?" Annie asked, worriedly.

Haley nodded in reply as Peter pulled her to her feet. "I'm fine, honey." _Except for the throbbing pains in my back and head_, she added mentally.

"Mummy, you broke Nathan!" Michael exclaimed, horrified.

"Nathan?" _What?_

Michael held up a white yogurt cup painted black in splotches. It had broken in half.

"Is that supposed to be a cow?" Haley asked.

"Yeah, it's Nathan the cow."

"Nathan the cow?" Haley raised an eyebrow.

"Mrs. Hill said to name everything on our models." Annie explained.

"Oh. Do you also have a 'Nathan the cow'?" Haley asked her daughter.

"No, I have Farmer Nathan," Annie said as if it were completely obvious.

"Aha." Haley thanked Peter and took her children to the elevator, this time making Michael carry his own model. "So," she said to her son as the elevator doors closed, "what's your farmer called?"

"Farmer Michael. Duh."

The real Nathan was at that moment waking up. It was past one o'clock and Nathan decided to finally drag himself out of bed. He was wearing only his grey sweats, so he pulled a white T-shirt on as walked to his front door to fetch the newspaper. He had just picked the paper up, and was about to close the door behind him when he heard the elevator bell ring. He looked to the side and saw the doors open, and Haley, Annie and Michael step out of it. His apartment was closer to the elevator so they had to walk past him to get to theirs.

"Hi," Haley said. Annie and Michael grinned.

"Hey. What are those?" he inquired after their models.

"We had to make farm models for school," Annie told him. "My farmer is called Nathan," she added, excitedly.

Nathan smiled back at the little girl. "Well, thank you, Annie. I'm very honoured."

"And Michael has a cow called Nathan."

"Oh." As Nathan looked up at Haley he noticed she was smiling. "You think that's funny?"

As she tried to suppress her laughter, Haley's smile grew. "The look on your face was."

"Don't be sad Nathan," Michael told him as he and Annie walked into the apartment. "In my model, Mummy is a cow too."

"What!" Haley exclaimed. Nathan started laughing. Haley soon joined in. It was only a few moments later that she noticed what he was wearing. "Nathan did you just get up?"

"Kind of."

"Brooke kept you up late?" Haley said, jokingly. However, she was surprisingly interested in the answer.

"No, I had work. Plus, Brooke and I broke up."

This was not the answer Haley had been expecting. She didn't know what to say, so she went with the conventional, "I'm sorry," although it wasn't exactly what she was feeling.

"It's okay. It was about 2 weeks ago," Nathan replied nonchalantly.

"What happened?" Haley asked, unable to contain her curiosity.

"She met my brother."

Haley burst into giggles. "You're joking!"

"No, I'm very serious." Nathan tried to look offended, but he wasn't. Despite the fact that he got dumped, the hilarity of the situation had not been lost on him.

Haley kept laughing. Nathan glared at her. "I'm really sorry, I just can't help it!"

Annie put her farm model down on her bed. She was very proud of it. Unlike her brother, she had done it all by herself. She looked down appreciatively at Farmer Nathan, Haley and Peyton the sheep, Jake the dog, Michael the chicken and all their farm animal friends. Then she walked out of her room and into the living room. Her brother was, as usual, already in front of the television, his model on the floor. She looked past him and saw that the front door was still open. The shopping bags were on the floor inside, but Haley was still outside and, for some reason, laughing.

Annie walked up the entrance and saw her mother was talking to Nathan. Haley noticed Annie and remembered that she and Michael hadn't eaten. "Oh, Nathan, I have to serve lunch for Annie and Michael."

"Yeah, I haven't had breakfast, either," Nathan admitted

"It's a little late for breakfast, don't you think?" Haley smiled.

An idea suddenly formulated in Annie's head as she remembered what Peyton had told her in private, the night they met Nathan's brother Lucas. "Why don't you come have lunch with us? We have enough, don't we Mummy?"

"Oh, no, it's okay," Nathan said.

Haley had been taken off guard by her daughter's remark. But she did want Nathan to come in. She tried to convince herself that it didn't have anything to do with what Peyton had said about the two of them, or the fact that Nathan was single once again, when she said, "No, you should come. Do you even have anything to eat in there?"

Nathan smiled. She was right; he didn't. And it would be more fun eating with Haley than eating alone. _I mean, eating with Haley **and the kids**_, he corrected himself.

Nathan took a quick shower, before going back to Haley's for lunch. After he explained to Michael that cows were female, Nathan sat down to eat with Haley, while Annie and Michael had already started eating at their small children's table. They started talking and Haley quickly steered the conversation back to Brooke. "So, what happened exactly?"

"I introduced them one night at a party; the next morning Brooke called and said she wanted to break up because she had fallen in love with my brother. The day after that Lucas told me they were going out."

"You seem really…okay with this." Haley said, surprised by Nathan's attitude. It wasn't like in the time she'd known him she'd seen him get distressed over break-ups. But most of the time he was the one who wanted to break up. She supposed that there _may_ have been occasions when he'd been dumped for another guy. But for his brother? That had to be a first.

Nathan just shrugged. "Brooke and I had fun, but it's not like we were in love. If Lucas wants to marry her, then I'm happy for him; for both of them."

"Hold on a second - marry her?" Haley squealed.

"Oh, didn't I tell you? Lucas called me last night, he and Brooke are engaged."

"Since when?"

"Yesterday," Nathan said.

"But- but-" Haley was finding it increasingly difficult to wrap her head around the situation. "How long have they been dating?"

Nathan thought for a moment. "9 days."

Haley was shocked. "And they're already engaged?" Nathan shrugged again. "And you're not fazed at all? Your brother suddenly decided to get married to a woman he's known for 9 days and you're not worried even a little bit?"

"Lucas can take care of himself. Plus, he's known her for 11 days. It's just that they started dating 9 days ago."

"This is crazy!" Haley exclaimed. "I mean, leaving aside the whole issue of whether there really is such a thing as love at first sight – although I don't see how there can be since you don't know someone the first time you see them, or what they're like, or anything, really; it's just based on looks, which isn't a pretty meaningful way to start a relationship – and a marriage! How can you base a marriage on looks? I mean, they can't know each other in just 11 days – they only know each other well enough to be certain that they'll have beautiful kids! Plus, the whole–"

"Do you want to go with me to their engagement party next Saturday?"

"What?" Haley said, unsure of whether she had heard him correctly, since she had just been rambling away.

"Next Saturday is Lucas and Brooke's engagement party at my parent's house." Nathan exclaimed. "I thought you might like to come."

"Oh." Haley had never met Nathan's parents, or any of his relatives, besides Lucas. She suddenly felt very nervous.

"It's okay if you don't want to," Nathan said hastily when she didn't answer his question. "I mean, clearly you don't approve. Did you fall in love with Lucas too?" Nathan said it as a joke, but meant the question seriously. The fact that Haley might have liked Lucas – as in, _really_ liked him – bothered him much more than when Brooke told him that she did.

"No!" Haley responded immediately. "Of course not. And it's not that I don't approve, it's just surprising, that's all. It's kind of sudden."

"Yeah it is." Nathan didn't feel very relieved. He noticed that Haley still hadn't replied to his invite. And he didn't know what to say next. He had, after all, asked her twice (technically speaking). If he asked her a third time, he'd just seem desperate. The thought crossed his mind that she was subtly refusing him. He then wondered why he cared so much. Not liking where this thoughts were going, he excused himself to go to the kitchen for some water.

The moment Nathan had gone Haley heard a voice cry, "Mummy!"

Haley looked to her side, down at the smaller table near by. Her son was busy eating his food, but her daughter was looking at her with an extremely cross face. It reminded Haley of the look her own mother used to give her when she didn't clean her room. "What is it, Annie?"

"Why did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Nathan asked you out on a date-"

"He didn't ask me out on a date!" Haley said too shocked by the accusation to realise it meant Annie had been listening to her conversation.

Annie rolled her eyes. "Well, he asked you to go somewhere and you didn't say anything."

"I di-" Haley cut herself off because she realised that Annie was right. She hadn't replied to Nathan when he'd asked her to go to the engagement. She'd just been in so much shock by Nathan's news that she – oh, what was wrong with her! If Nathan didn't care about the marriage, why should she. She didn't care about Brooke or Lucas, she cared about Nathan. _Wait-what?_ No-of course she cared about Nathan. He was her friend. Her very good friend. Her very good friend with a nice smile, and amazing blue eyes, and hair that looked really soft and–_ Oh. My. God._

Haley remained in a frozen state of shock until Nathan came back from the kitchen and sat down across her. It looked to him like she suddenly pulled out of a trance. "You ok?" he asked.

"Uh-huh." As they continued to eat in silence, Haley wondered what the best way was to bring back the subject of the engagement party. Until she realized there was no best way. She breathed in deep, and took the plunge. "So, about the engagement party…"

For the first time in 5 minutes Nathan looked up at her. "Yeah?"

"Does that offer to go still stand?"

Nathan grinned and Haley noticed that when he did, his blue eyes looked even bluer. _**Bluer**?_ Oh, she had it bad.

Damn it.


	4. Trouble In Here

**A/N: **Yay! The party is finally here! Thank you to all you lovely reviewers – don't forget to leave your thoughts at the end of this chapter too!

**Chapter Four**

Peyton was sitting on Haley's bed waiting for her friend to finish changing. Today was Lucas and Brooke's engagement party, so she and Jake were taking care of Michael and Annie for the night. Jake had already taken the kids to their house, but Peyton stayed behind at Haley's apartment to help her get ready. Half an hour later Haley still hadn't chosen a dress. "Come out already! I have to leave in 15 minutes."

"Peyton, I can't wear this!"

"Come out of the bathroom and let me decide that." Peyton looked up as the door slowly swung open and Haley came out, wearing a black dress. The silky material clung to her body and the dress ended high up on her thigh. It was also completely backless. "Haley, you look amazing!"

"I can't wear this! I can't believe you would pick this dress out for me!"

"What's wrong with it?" Peyton was truly baffled. She thought this dress looked way better than the other ones Haley had tried on.

"It's totally inappropriate!"

"Honey, I'm sure Brooke and her friends will be wearing far more scandalous dresses. Plus, I don't think Nathan will mind," Peyton added.

"Peyton," Haley spoke slowly for greater clarity, "Nathan's parents will be there tonight. I can't meet them in this."

Peyton smiled at her friend. "Hales, you don't have to be nervous."

"I'm not nervous," Haley protested. Peyton raised an eyebrow. "Well, okay…Do you think that's really stupid of me?"

"Why would it be?" Peyton asked, standing up.

"Well, I don't even know if _Nathan_ likes me. And here I am worrying about whether or not his family will. That's what Brooke should be doing."

"Nathan likes you," Peyton said assuredly. "And even if he didn't before, after tonight he most definitely will."

"I am not wearing this dress. Peyt, I'm nervous enough as it is."

"Don't worry." Peyton walked over to Haley's cupboard. "We'll just find another dress for you to look fabulous in." After some rifling through, Peyton found the perfect dress for the occasion. She pulled it off the hanger and showed it to Haley. "This is what you'll be wearing tonight," she said with certainty.

"No."

"Haley! It's longer than the one you have on and it actually has a back. The only way his relatives could think it indecent would be if one of his aunt's is a nun! What do you find wrong with it?"

"It's still way above my knees! And it shows off some cleavage!"

Peyton rolled her eyes. "Well, Nathan's got to have something to look at."

……………

Nathan checked his alarm clock for what felt like the zillionth time. It still said the same thing: 7:26. He had told Haley that he'd pick her up at half past, but he'd been ready since 7:20. Since then he'd been walking around his apartment wondering what to do. He knew most girls were usually late. In fact, he'd once had a girlfriend who'd get angry with him if he showed up less than ten minutes after the time they had set their date. But he wasn't sure what Haley would be like. As long as he'd known her he couldn't remember her being late – unless, of course, Michael had forgotten something. His mind drifted off to a memory of a day he spent with them when this had occurred. When he came back to reality it was 7:28. Nathan decided that he may as well just go get her now and, picking up his keys, locked the apartment behind him.

Nathan rang the doorbell to the apartment, and almost instantly Haley appeared. He opened his mouth to say hello, but no words came out as he noticed what she was wearing. The dress was strapless and a shiny light green. The darker bow around the middle drew attention to her figure and she wore a simple chain around her neck. It took him a few more moments to realize that he was just standing there, staring at her with his mouth open. "H-hi," he finally choked out.

"Hey."

"So…you ready to go?"

"Yeah." Haley walked out of the apartment and locked the door behind her.

As they walked down the long corridor towards the elevator Nathan found his eyes drawn towards Haley. However, the fact that they were walking side by side made this slightly difficult, as well as more obvious. Whenever, Haley looked up, Nathan would quickly turn his head in completely the opposite direction. Once he was sure she was looking away from him, he turned to look at her again. His nervousness was beginning to irritate him; he never got nervous, not even on the basketball court. Nathan contemplated thinking about the reasons for this feeling. He decided against it. Instead, he slowed down his pace, so that he fell slightly behind Haley and therefore had a better view from which to admire the way the dress hugged her curves and how light reflected off of it as she moved.

Haley played with the beads of her necklace as they neared the elevator. She had never seen Nathan dressed up before – he wasn't the kind of person who went to a lot of formal occasions. Tonight he had on a dark blue shirt with a suit jacket, no tie. His white T-shirt was visible underneath his shirt, and Haley found that she rather liked this. It made her mind wander to the subject of what was underneath _that_ and she sighed when she remembered that she had never seen him shirtless before either.

Hearing her sigh, Nathan asked, "You ok?"

Haley immediately blushed, glad that Nathan couldn't read her thoughts. "Yeah, I'm fine. I guess I am a little nervous," she admitted.

"Yeah?" Now they had reached the elevator, Nathan pushed the button to go down.

"Well, I won't exactly know anyone there except for you and Lucas and Brooke." This was true. It just left out the other, more significant, reasons for her nerves.

The bell sounded and the elevator door opened. "Don't worry about it," Nathan said. They walked inside and he pressed the Ground Floor button. "Everyone will like you."

Haley scoffed. "What makes you think that?"

"Because you're Haley," he said sincerely. "And you look exceptionally hot tonight," he added with a smirk.

Part of Haley's brain desperately searched for a witty comment to reply with. She would have even settled for a somewhat clichéd or over-used line, like, 'You don't look so bad yourself.' She had, in fact, almost worked up the courage to deliver something of the sort. That is, until he winked at her. Then, all she could do was look anywhere other than at him. And turn exactly the same colour as her hair.

……………

By the time they reached the Scott household Haley had fully recovered from her nerves. She and Nathan had started talking casually as they were leaving the apartment building and the fight for control of the radio in the car provoked a music debate, so Haley was never bored. Since Nathan was driving and kept his eyes on the road (except for when he was trying to put Jay-Z on and she kept changing the channel), Haley had ample opportunities to glance at him and…appreciate his outfit. Definitely not boring. In fact, she was so comfortable that as she got out of the car and shut the passenger door behind her, she was actually feeling a little confident about the whole evening. This all changed when she saw the house.

"This is where you live?" Haley exclaimed as Nathan came up beside her.

"I live next door to you, remember?" Nathan said, jokingly. "But, this is my parent's house."

"House? More like a mansion! It's huge!" Haley cried. "Your bedroom must have been the size of my entire apartment."

Nathan smiled at her. "No, of course not. But I think the kitchen is."

"What?"

"I'm just kidding, Hales."

"Oh. Is that a basketball court?" she asked. As they walked along the path towards the main door she noticed something that looked like a hoop near the garage, but in the darkness she couldn't be sure.

"Yeah. We have a couple of pools and a tennis court too."

"Are you serious?"

"No. There is a pool, though," he added, just before ringing the doorbell.

As they heard footsteps approaching the doorbell Haley closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Nathan noticed this and so placed his hand on her lower back in what he thought was a reassuring manner. It had a slightly different effect on her.

The door opened and a shrill voice squealed, "Nathan! Haley! You guys made it."

"Well, I wouldn't exactly miss my own brother's engagement party."

"So you didn't come for me?" Brooke pouted, before smiling again. "I'm so glad you're here, Haley."

"You are?" Brooke had never given Haley the impression she had disliked her – she'd actually been quite friendly in their few meetings – but they'd never been close.

"Of course, tonight will be so much fun. Plus, with you here Nathan doesn't have to look like the sad little brother who can't get a date."

What surprised Haley the most about this last comment was the fact that Brooke didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with it. Nathan just rolled his eyes and led Haley inside. Brooke walked with them and took them to a room where about seven girls were sitting and she introduced them all to Haley and Nathan as her friends from high school. Haley wasn't surprised. Apart from the different hairstyles and dresses they all look exactly the same: perfect. She couldn't remember feeling so intimidated since…high school, actually.

"So, how did you two meet?" a girl called Theresa asked Haley and Nathan.

"We live next door to each other," Haley answered.

"Oh, how cute." That came from Bevan.

Haley and Nathan glanced at each other. He just raised an eyebrow at her. She turned to Bevan and said, "Excuse me?"

"She means that it's cute how you guys met like that and are, like, a couple now. It's like something out of a movie." A different girl replied. This one was Erica.

Did they all share the same brain or something?

In a voice much higher than her usual tone Haley immediately replied, "We're not dating. We're just neighbours."

"And friends," Nathan added.

"Yeah. That too."

It was clear to Nathan that Haley was very uncomfortable. The girls had not picked it up yet, so Nathan said, "We should probably go find Lucas," before they could ask any more questions.

"Okay, see you guys later," Brooke said, as they left.

Haley said a quiet "Thanks" to Nathan and he gave a light smile in reply.

"Hey, do you want to meet my mum?"

Haley's eyes opened wide. "Uh…yeah, sure."

He led her to the kitchen where they found a blond woman speaking to one of the waiters. She turned around and saw them. "Nathan!"

"Hi, mum." He walked towards her and they hugged. "This is Haley."

"Hello, Mrs. Scott," Haley smiled nervously.

She held out her hand and Haley shook it. "Please, call me Deb."

Haley smiled again. "You have a really nice house."

"Thank you. Nathan said that you have two children. It's a boy and a girl, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"How old are they now?"

"4 years."

Deb smiled fondly. "Oh, they're so sweet then. Before you know it, they'll be off to college and getting married."

Haley laughed.

"I hope you don't mind Haley if I just borrow Nate for a few moments."

"Of course not, Mrs. – Deb," she said. "I'll just be here," she added to Nathan.

Deb then took Nathan in the opposite direction of where he and Haley had come in, towards the entrance to the room where the food was being kept. "What is it, mum?"

"Your father wants to talk to you."

Nathan rolled his eyes. "About what?"

Deb sighed. "Marriage."

"What!"

"He's got the idea into his head that now Lucas is getting engaged you should be looking for a more…committed relationship instead of just casually dating girls."

"What? Lucas is 3 years older than I am! I don't have to get _married_ just because he is."

"Of course you don't, darling, Dan just thinks you should start taking your relationships more seriously now."

"When did he get this into his head?"

Deb looked at the floor instead of her son. "When Lucas said you were bringing Haley."

"What!"

"When Lucas said that, Dan thought that you two were dating. Lucas said he thought you were just coming as friends, but, well…your father got worried."

"Worried about what? That I might be dating Haley?"

Deb looked apologetically at her son. "You know what Dan can be like. Haley seems like a very nice and sweet girl, but she is a single mother. Obviously, there's nothing wrong with that, but Dan would just…_disapprove_ if you two were actually dating."

"He's never even met Haley! Are you sure he's even met me?"

"Nathan! You and I may not always agree with Dan, but he is your father."

"Well, I don't want to have anything to do with him." Nathan began to walk away, but Deb stopped him. "You can't make me go out there and speak to him in front of all his business buddies. Especially not if he's gonna talk about this."

"I won't, I brought you here to warn you," Deb explained. "Just don't go and do anything rash tonight. At least, for your brother."

For Lucas. As far back as Nathan could remember everything had always been about Lucas. Childhood memories began to flood his brain and Nathan tried to push them back out. He took a deep breath before going back inside the kitchen to calm himself down. He was hoping to talk to Haley; and then introduce her to some of his and Lucas' friends, as well as his uncle Keith and aunt Karen. However, once inside the kitchen, he realized this plan would have to be put on hold. Until he could find out where Haley was.


	5. Numbness For Sound

**Chapter Five**

Haley stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She sighed, in part at her own appearance in comparison to Brooke and her friends. However, it was mostly because she had overheard some of Nathan's conversation with his mum. It seemed that Nathan's dad wouldn't like her, no matter what. She sighed again. She should be more worried what Nathan felt about her. She wondered what Nathan had thought when those girls had said they were dating.

"_She means that it's cute how you guys met like that and are, like, a couple now. It's like something out of a movie." _

_In a voice much higher than her usual tone Haley immediately replied, "We're not dating. We're just neighbours."_

"_And friends," Nathan added._

"_Yeah. That too."_

What exactly did the _'And friends'_ mean?

Haley reluctantly unlocked the bathroom door - despite her best attempts, she knew she would not be able to stay in there all night - and dragged herself out of the bathroom. She then realised that she was in someone's bedroom. In her haste to find somewhere to be alone, she hadn't noticed where she was going and had just headed straight into the nearest bathroom she could find. She looked around the room. At first glance she thought it lacked personal items, and in one corner of the room there were a lot of boxes being stored. However, something caught her eye behind the headboard of the double bed. She walked over to it, and moved the object so she could have a better look. It was an album poster, for some rap artist. Realisation dawned: this was Nathan's room.

Curiosity filled up inside her - she had never been inside Nathan's room in his apartment, but this would be just as interesting to look around. Then Haley remembered that Nathan hardly came here anymore, at least not to stay the night, so he there wouldn't be a lot of his stuff here. A few more minutes of mental debate followed. She finally gave in and started investigating.

The result of her search, unfortunately, was not very rewarding. Aside from a couple of posters behind the bed and some impersonal objects left in the drawers, she couldn't find anything. She supposed that the things he hadn't taken to his apartment were in those boxes, but she wasn't crazy enough to start opening them and rifling through. Yet.

Haley sat on the bed, with her back to the main door, and then leaned back down into the pillows. Almost instantly, she could smell Nathan. She burrowed her head into the pillow and allowed the smell to wash over her. She breathed it in again, thinking about all the nights Nathan would have slept there.

Suddenly, she sat back up again, with a start. She had just remembered that Nathan had probably slept with other girls there. Many other girls.

Consumed by her thoughts, Haley didn't notice someone enter the room from the slightly open door. She was stirred back to reality with a shock when they lightly knocked the door.

"Aah!" Haley yelled, and fell off the bed.

"Hey, you ok?"

"Uh-huh. Just peachy." Haley pulled herself onto her knees and then stood up. She smiled, slightly embarrassed. _Well, at least it wasn't Nathan who found you in his room_, she reminded herself.

"I didn't mean to startle you," he said apologetically.

"That's ok. Hey, congratulations," Haley said, as she walked around the bed to hug Lucas.

"Thanks."

"So, what happened?" Haley and Lucas sat down on the side of the bed together. He raised an eyebrow at her questioningly. Haley smiled. The gesture reminded her of Nathan. "I mean, 9 days? That must be a world record or something."

Lucas laughed. "We just figured, 'why wait?' you know."

Haley nodded. "So, when's the wedding? Tomorrow?"

"52 months and," he paused to count on his fingers before finishing, "17 days."

"What?"

Lucas shrugged. "That's how long it's gonna take to plan Brooke's dream wedding." Haley started laughing, and Lucas soon joined in. When their laughter had subsided he asked her, "So, you enjoying the party?"

"Yeah," Haley replied in what she considered to be a convincing manner.

"Then why are you hiding in here?"

His frankness surprised Haley, and she knew there was no point in lying. "Why are you?"

"If I have to meet another of Brooke's high school cheerleader friends I may end up strangling someone."

Haley giggled. "Just think: once you guys are finally married, they'll be coming over to your house everyday!"

Lucas groaned and hung his head in his hands.

Before either could say anything else the door was flung open. Haley saw a tall man towering above them.

"Lucas?"

"Dad," he said, looking up. "Hi."

"Not having second thoughts are we?" Dan asked, referring to Lucas' seemingly dejected state.

"No, Haley and I were just joking around."

"Oh, you're Haley?" Dan finally looked at her.

"Yes." She tried to smile in reply, but could only think about how he didn't like her. The look on his face didn't suggest his feelings had changed now that they'd finally met.

"Well, you're not planning on hooking up with her too, are you? You gonna do that with all your brother's girls?" Dan asked his son coldly.

"Oh, that's real hilarious," he said sarcastically.

"Well, just as long as I'm not shelling out cash for this engagement party for nothing." Dan turned back to Haley. "Well, it was lovely to meet you. We don't have enough working-class single mothers of our acquaintance."

Haley just stared. She didn't know what to say. It turned out that she didn't have to.

Lucas was horrified. He stood up, pulling Haley up with him. "Why don't we go back to the party?" ha asked her. She simply nodded and allowed herself to be taken out of the room by Lucas, leaving a smiling Dan behind.

"I'm really sorry about that Haley."

"Is he always like that?" she asked, wrapping her arms around herself.

"When he wants to be. Yeah."

"Oh, 'cause I thought maybe it was just me."

Lucas smiled sadly at her. "Dan thinks that you and Nathan are…"

"Dating?"

"Yep."

"Funny, that's what everyone seems to think these days."

"Is that what you want?"

Haley looked at Lucas. In short, he was asking her whether she liked Nathan. The only person she had admitted that to yet was Peyton. She hadn't even been able to tell Jake yet, her own brother. Could she just tell Nathan's brother? The truth was, she didn't know Lucas much, but he seemed like a nice person. Someone she could be friends with. The problem was admitting her feelings for Nathan out loud just made them too real. And if she told Lucas then Nathan would certainly find out, and if he didn't feel the same way things would become awkward between them. But, she didn't want to lie either. Finally she said, "I don't think that it's what Nathan wants."

Lucas smiled. "It is. He just doesn't know it yet. Little brother was always kind of slow."

……………

Nathan had spent the last ten minutes looking for Haley. Now, he was officially worried. The possibility that she could have just taken off kept popping up in his mind, and he had to keep reminding himself that, aside from there being no way for her to do so, she also had no reason to just leave. Unless she had overheard his conversation with his mum. Nathan seriously hoped that this wasn't the case.

In the middle of this search, which had now led him to the main dining room, Nathan suddenly jumped forward. Even if he hadn't been worried about Haley the fact that someone had just put their hand on his butt would have surprised him. He spun around and recognized the girl as one of Brooke's friends, but he couldn't remember her name.

"Err…Bevan?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "It's Erica. Bevan's the one who should have got braces when she was a kid."

"Right. Listen, Erica, I'm kind of busy right now."

She smiled at him. He noticed how her 'smile' simply consisted of the corners of her mouth curling up slightly, her lips pursed tightly together. Nathan remembered Haley smiling at him; her wide smile seemed to reach her eyes and light up her whole face. His reverie was interrupted by Erica sauntering closer to him and whispering, "This won't take long."

His eyes grew wide as her interpreted her meaning. "I-I'm flattered, really, but…I'm sort of here with someone."

"But I thought you said she wasn't your girlfriend." Erica frowned.

"Um…" Nathan couldn't think of an appropriate reply, but realized that she had moved away from him and took his opportunity to escape. "I gotta go," he said before running away from her.

Unfortunately, he hadn't left Erica for long before he heard someone call his name. Nathan stopped in his tracks, desperately hoping that it wasn't Erica or another of those girls. The voice called him again, and he turned around, a look of dread marked on his face.

"Nathan Scott! That's no way to greet your favourite relation."

"Katie!" he exclaimed, before hugging his cousin. Katie was a freshman at Tree Hill High and daughter of his Uncle Keith and Aunt Karen. He had been nearly ten when Katie was born so he had fallen into the habit of taking care of her. They acted more like brother and sister than cousins. "Sorry, I thought you were one of Brooke's friends."

"Oh, poor Nathan, about to be chased after by a bunch of beautiful girls," she teased.

Nathan smiled. "Yeah, I'm really unlucky."

"So, where's your girlfriend?" Katie asked, lifting an eyebrow at him. She too had inherited the Scott trademark.

"My girlfriend?" Nathan asked, confused. "You don't mean Brooke, do you?"

Katie sighed. "No, I mean Haley. Lucas said you were bringing the incredible Miss James with you tonight."

"Haley's not my girlfriend, Katie. But I'm actually in the process of looking for her."

"Well," Katie said, "you better go find her quick before any of Lucas' friends start hitting on her." She smiled and walked off.

Nathan soon realised the reality of what Katie had said. He started walking again, slightly more impatient to find Haley. He entered one of the many large sitting rooms in the Scott house and across the room, he glimpsed a green dress. He walked closer and saw Haley, her dress and hair both shining in the light. It was her face, however, that captured Nathan's attention. She was laughing at something the person next to her had said. Nathan turned his head to see who she was talking to, trying to remember which of Lucas' friends were coming. In the end, it didn't matter. Because she was talking to Lucas himself.

He silently watched Haley laughing with his brother. Did Lucas always have to go after his girls? _Wait a second – **his** girls? _What was with this whole possessive thing? Nathan took a deep breath and approached the pair. Upon noticing his brother Lucas said hello.

"Hi." Nathan then turned to Haley, "I was wondering where you went. I thought you were gonna wait in the kitchen."

"Yeah, sorry, I just went to the bathroom and then I ran into Lucas." Haley said, and smiled apologetically.

"She met Dan," Lucas told his brother.

"Oh." Nathan started worrying. "I was really hoping that you wouldn't have to. _Ever_."

Haley smiled at him again. "Well, at least, I survived, right?"

"Yeah." Nathan nodded. "Hey, there's someone I want to introduce you to. Uncle Keith and Aunt Karen are here."

"Really?" Lucas asked. "Uncle Keith told me this morning that they might get a little late.

"I ran into Katie on my way here."

"Oh, well, I'll go see her and leave you two alone." As Lucas left he winked at Haley. She knew that this was in reference to what he had just been telling her about going forward with Nathan. Nathan noticed the wink too, but it made him think that Lucas had been flirting with Haley and this irritated him somewhat.

His anger, however, immediately subsided when he felt Haley place her hand gently on his wrist. He looked down at her, intending to ask her what she wanted, but instead found himself staring into her chocolate brown eyes.

Haley was captivated by Nathan's gaze, but the intensity soon became too much for her and she felt compelled to break the silence. "You wanted to introduce me to your aunt and uncle?"

"Oh – right. Yeah. Let's go."

……………

It didn't take Nathan and Haley long to find Karen. She was hanging her coat on the rack in Dan's study. When they entered, Karen walked up to Nathan and embraced him. "Hi Nathan. Hello," she added, upon noticing the girl next to him.

"Aunt Karen this is Haley. Haley this is my Aunt Karen."

Karen looked at Haley. "Hi."

"Hi, it's really nice to meet you. I've heard so much about you."

"Not as much as I've heard about you, I'm sure." Karen smiled as she watched Haley's face turn bright red in reply. "How's your evening been so far?"

"Good," Haley replied, only being half-honest. "Uneventful."

"Well, that's uncommon for a Scott party."

Nathan looked on as his aunt and Haley continued their conversation and, to Nathan's delight, it was obvious that Karen liked Haley. He soon felt an arm land on his shoulder.

"Hey Nate."

"Hey Uncle Keith."

Keith turned to his wife. "I was wondering whether after 16 years you'd forgotten where the coat rack is."

"No, dear, Nathan just introduced me to Haley."

"Hi," Haley said.

"Hello," Keith said, and shook her hand. "It's lovely to meet you. Nathan's told us so much about you."

"Oh." And she blushed again, but was too busy scolding herself for not coming up with much more suave reply that she did not hear what Keith said next.

Keith whispered to Nathan, "She's cute." Karen looked reproachfully at her husband, while Nathan, thinking that Haley had also heard this remark, turned a shade to match the colour of Haley's hair. This annoyed him more than Keith's comment. Nathan Scott was not a man who blushed. He enjoyed making other people blush – especially Haley – but nothing ever made him blush. Until now, it seemed.

Amongst all this, someone else entered the study. "Katie!" Karen exclaimed. "I was wondering where you'd run off to."

"I just went to say hi to Lucas and see his new girlfriend. I mean, fiancée," she explained.

"Oh, well, come over here and meet Haley."

Katie walked in and the two exchanged greetings. "You're really pretty. I can see why Nathan likes you." Immediately, silence fell throughout the room, but this was inexplicable to Katie. "What?"


	6. You & A Promise

**A/N:** Hey! Chapter 6 is here! There's some Jeyton interaction here, because I miss them! Not as much as I miss fluffy Naley, but at least they're still on the show. I hope Jake comes back soon! On a more positive note – I now have 50 reviews! Unbelievable! Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed, I love reading them! Special shout outs to **TutorWife **and** LiasonFan2 **formaking me laugh.

And, to **EvenAngelsFall22**: I've never actually watched Guiding Light (I don't live in the US so I've only ever heard of it in bios of BJL – you see, I'm also slightly obsessed – just not as much as I am with James Lafferty (All together now girls, 'Aah…') – but I really like little details too, so it's nice to know). Thus, the "Just peachy" line is completely coincidence. Weird.

**Chapter Six**

Nathan slightly rolled down the window of his car and let the cold night air in. The ride back had so far been considerably different from the journey to his parents' house, in that this time he and Haley had hardly said two words to each other since they left. On their way to the party Haley had hardly stopped talking and Nathan had teased her about it, but mostly because he thought it was cute. Now she was just staring out her window. Nathan didn't know what to do with the silence.

"Hey, so…" he struggled to find something to say. "How was your night?"

Haley turned to look at him. "Good."

"Well, don't overexcite yourself with all that enthusiasm, Hales." Haley smiled. Nathan noticed it wasn't her all-out 'happy' smile that lit up her entire face. She just looked somewhat amused, and had a slight twinkle in her eye. Nathan tore his eyes away from her face before he could start staring into her eyes and then crash his car because he wasn't paying attention to the road. "I mean…you can tell me if you were bored."

"I wasn't bored," Haley said honestly. "And it was…_nice_ meeting your family. Your Mum and Uncle Keith and Aunt Karen are really nice. And Katie's pretty cool."

Katie. Nathan remembered how his cousin had popped out of nowhere and told Haley that he liked her. _That_ had created a lot of tension in the room. Nathan sighed as he recollected the way Aunt Karen had glared at Katie until she stuttered, "I mean – I'm joking," at which point Haley had laughed and the whole situation dissolved.

Without allowing himself to glance over at Haley, Nathan wondered what it would be like to date Haley. And not in his 'casual dating for three months or less' way, but to seriously date her. The dates would almost always be just hanging out at her apartment, because of the kids, which they did anyway. Just without making out.

"Nathan, you in there?"

"Uh, yeah." Nathan looked over at Haley but would not allow his eyes to wander below her forehead. If he looked at her eyes he might start staring again; looking at her mouth would lead his thoughts to making out; and looking anywhere below her neck…oh boy. "Katie is pretty cool. But she gets really annoying when she beats me at basketball."

Haley laughed and, as she did she moved, bringing her whole face in Nathan's line of vision. She smiled at him and he responded by quickly turning his face back to the road and opening his window the whole way down.

As Nathan looked away, Haley turned back to her window and contemplated asking him what was really on her mind. "Nathan…" she began.

"Yeah?"

"Is…is Dan always –"

"A jackass?" Nathan glanced at her this time.

"That's not exactly the word I was going to use."

"Then it wouldn't have been accurate enough."

Haley's gaze returned to the window and she recognized the place they were driving by. "Hey, this is the docks."

"Yeah, you been here before?"

"Yeah, I love it here, it's so peaceful. I just never have the time to come that much."

"Well, let's go now."

"What?" Haley asked.

Nathan replied by bringing the car to a stop by the side of the road. "We can go now."

"No, Nathan, we don't have to. Plus, we have to pick up Michael and Annie."

"Are Peyton and Jake early sleepers?"

"No, not really," Haley said.

"Then they won't mind baby-sitting for a couple more minutes."

Haley opened her mouth, but before she could respond Nathan had already gotten out of the car and appeared at her side, opening her car door. Haley was still too surprised to say or do anything.

Nathan smirked. "I know the guy is supposed to be chivalrous and all, but do I have to undo your seat belt too?"

Haley smiled, embarrassed. She removed her seat belt and got out of the car. Nathan shut the door behind her, and the two walked to the docks in silence.

"Haley?" Nathan said finally.

"Yeah?"

"I'm really sorry about Dan. For whatever it was that he said. He's just…well, he's a jackass."

"He's also your Dad."

"Doesn't mean I have to like him."

"I guess not," Haley nodded. "Why is it that you don't?" When Nathan was silent Haley quickly added, "You don't have to answer if you –"

"No, it's okay. I guess it was mostly stuff with Lucas."

"Lucas?" Haley was now confused. "But, I thought you and Lucas got on well?"

"Yeah, we do, but that's completely in spite of Dan." Nathan sighed before continuing, "When I was growing up everything was always 'Lucas did this, why aren't you?' And the times when I did do the same stuff he had done at my age, like basketball, Dan wanted to know why I wasn't as good as Lucas."

Haley looked at Nathan sympathetically. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's not your fault. Plus, yeah, life with Dan was terrible, but it wasn't like my entire childhood was crap. I had my mum and Lucas, and I could always go over to stay with Uncle Keith when things got too rough at home."

Haley smiled lightly. "When I was a kid I would have given anything to have had a Dad."

Both Haley and Nathan were aware that despite the past few years of friendship they had never really talked about their lives when they were younger; at least, not more than was necessary. Nathan wondered whether to go on, and decided to ask her, "How old were you when your Mum married Jake's Dad?"

"15. Jake and I were freshmen in high school then."

"What was it like? I mean, after it being just you and your mum for all those years you suddenly had to live with not just one, but two men in the house."

"Well, my Dad died before I was old enough to remember him, so I wasn't angry with my Mum for being with another guy. Paul, Jake's Dad, is really nice and I was just happy for my mother. The living with them only caused problems because Jake and I had to share the same bathroom!" Haley giggled as she remembered the way they used to race to get to the bathroom first in the mornings. "And Jake and I had been friends since junior high so it wasn't so bad."

"And I'll be meeting him tonight," Nathan commented.

It took a couple of seconds, but then Haley realized that Jake and Nathan would finally meet each other tonight when they went to pick up Michael and Annie. "Oh, yeah. Well, I'm sure you'll like Jake." Haley didn't see how anybody couldn't like Jake. But, she was more concerned about whether or not Jake would like Nathan. Not because Nathan was unlikable – far from it – but Jake tended to be overprotective of Haley.

"Yeah? Are you sure he won't beat me up for socializing with his little sister?"

"Yes!" Haley laughed. "And, I just met practically your whole family, so you better not try to weasel out of meeting my brother."

Nathan smiled. "Okay."

Haley pulled her eyes away from his and focused them back on the ocean so that she could relax a little. As she breathed in the night air the thought crossed her mind that the fact that they were talking about meeting the other's family sounded like they were dating and she felt her cheeks heat up slightly. The rest of her body remained obstinately cold, and she wrapped her arms around herself tighter.

Nathan's smile grew as he looked down at the girl beside him. The wind was blowing the side of her hair, and he was finding it very difficult to keep himself from reaching down and tucking the hair behind her ear. He saw her suddenly start to blush, as if for no reason, and he found this oddly endearing. "Hey, are you cold?" he asked when he noticed she was shivering slightly.

"Uh, just a little," she admitted.

"Here," he said, and before she could protest he had taken his jacket off and placed it on her shoulders.

She smiled her thanks and pulled the jacket closer around her.

"Do you want to head back?"

"Well…we could stay for just a few minutes," she said in a soft, almost shy, voice.

"Yeah, we could."

……………

_Ding-dong_

"Honey, could you get that?"

Jake grumbled – he was just about to turn the TV on – but got up from the couch and went to the door to his house, like Peyton had asked him to. He opened the front door and was greeted by his (step)sister and a tall, dark-haired man.

"Hi!" Haley said enthusiastically. "Jake, this is Nathan. Nathan, Jake."

"Hi." Nathan smiled.

"Hi," Jake nodded.

Soon, Peyton appeared behind Jake. "Hey, you guys! Nathan, it's really nice to see you again."

"Yeah, you too, Peyton."

"So, how was the party?" she asked, as Haley and Nathan walked inside.

"It was good," Haley replied. "I hope the kids were okay."

"They were fine," Jake pitched in.

"You know they always are," Peyton told her friend. "Hey, do you two want to have a drink or something…"

"Thanks, Peyt, but it's way past Michael and Annie's bedtime."

"Okay, well, they're in the guest room." Peyton moved towards the staircase.

Haley glanced at Nathan, saying she'd be back in a minute, and followed Peyton upstairs. It was during these 5 seconds, the first time Haley and Nathan had looked at each other since they arrived, that Jake realized what it was that had made him think they looked odd: Haley was wearing Nathan's jacket!

The girls left and it was just Nathan and Jake alone in the living room. Nathan stuffed his hands in his pockets. "So…"

Jake decided to get straight to the point. "Why is my sister wearing your jacket?"

Nathan was taken off-guard by this question. "She was feeling cold," he replied truthfully.

"I see. So, no funny business?"

Nathan's eyes shot up as took in Jake's full meaning. "N-no! It's nothing like that. We didn't, I mean, we're not…She was just feeling cold so I gave it to her." Nathan explained.

Jake had yet to properly observe Nathan with Haley, but he had been slightly suspicious from back in college when he noticed Haley had been mentioning Nathan more and more in her conversations. However, he knew something was definitely going on when Peyton had met Nathan and come home clearly plotting to get the two together. Jake knew his fiancée well enough to know that her invitation for them to stay a bit longer was part of that plan too. Yet, there was one thing that he didn't know; which led him to his next question. "Do you like her?"

"Uh…Haley and I…" Nathan decided to start again. "She's special."

Jake was surprised by this answer and immediately started to like the guy a bit better. But, he knew it was to his advantage if Nathan didn't know that yet. "Yeah, she is," he said sternly and gave Nathan his best glare.

Just then, Peyton and Haley came back, with Annie and Michael in tow. Both the children were asleep so the girls were carrying them downstairs. Nathan took the opportunity to get away from Jake's stare and moved towards them. "I'll take her," he told Peyton, who was carrying Annie.

"Oh, here," she said, giving the little girl to him.

"Well, we'll see you guys then. And thanks so much," Haley told Jake and Peyton.

"Oh, it's no problem at all," Peyton replied, opening the front door.

They said their goodbyes, and Jake gave Nathan a parting glance that, although unnoticed by Haley, was seen by Peyton. Once she closed the door behind them, she asked Jake, "What was that about?"

"What was what about?" Jake made his way back to the couch and turned the TV on to ESPN.

"You gave Nathan the look didn't you?"

"What look?" Jake asked innocently.

Peyton sat down next to him and crossed her arms. "The 'you better not mess with my sister' look."

"I don't have that look," Jake protested.

"Yes, you do! You've given it to every guy that's hit on Haley, before you informed them that she had two kids so if they're not in it for the long-run they better get lost."

"So what are you saying? That I've scared away all of Haley's potential boyfriends?" Jake knew it was true. That didn't mean he was going to admit it.

"It's not exactly a coincidence that she hasn't had a serious boyfriend since Riley took off."

"I'm just looking out for Haley so that she doesn't end up with another jerk like Riley."

Peyton wanted to stay mad at Jake because she thought Nathan was good for Haley, but she knew she would cave soon. She did just that as soon as Jake looked at her with puppy-dog eyes. She moved closer to him and he put his arm around her as they watched the basketball highlights. However, she didn't want Jake to think he was completely off the hook, so she said, "Just as long as she didn't give him the 'hurt my sister and I'll hurt you' speech." Peyton got worried again when her future husband didn't reply. "Well?"

He shrugged. "You and Haley came back before I could get to that part."

"Jake!"

……………

Nathan brought his car to a complete stop and turned the engine off in the parking lot of his apartment building. The rest of the journey home had been better than earlier that night, but he and Haley hadn't talked as much, so as not to wake up Annie and Michael. Wordlessly, Nathan and Haley got out of the car and opened the doors to the backseat. Annie was on Nathan's side so he picked her up and closed the door silently, but the movement was enough to wake her. Her eyes were only half-open but she recognized him. "Nathan?" she asked sleepily.

"Hey, sorry to wake you," he spoke softly, and carried her round to Haley.

"Hi Mummy," Annie was now slightly more awake.

"Hey. Sshh your brother's still sleeping," Haley gestured to the little boy in her arms.

"I can walk," Annie told Nathan in a quieter voice. He put Annie down took Michael from Haley. They then made their way into the building, Haley and Annie holding hands and leading the way, closely followed by Nathan carrying Michael. Annie was becoming more aware as her drowsiness began to fade. "So, how was your date?" she asked with a smile.

Haley flushed and looked reproachfully down at her daughter, who was still grinning madly as they neared the elevator. However, before Haley could remind her that it was not a date, Nathan said, "It was good."

_Did Nathan think it was a date?_

The elevator bell rang and the doors opened to let them in. Once inside, Annie pressed the right button for their floor before asking, "Does this mean you are dating properly now?"

Haley grew more embarrassed by the second. She squeezed Annie's hand again, hoping she would get the message. "Honey, I don't think that you should be asking that question," she said, not knowing what other way to respond, and slightly afraid of what Nathan would say if left to answer it.

"But you're wearing his jacket," Annie persisted.

Haley found luck to be on her side as they arrived at their floor before anything else could be added. "Here, we are," she said in a sing-song voice, that even she found irritating.

She dragged Annie out of the elevator and towards their apartment. Putting her key in the lock Haley opened the door, and practically pushed Annie inside. She turned around, intending to take Michael from Nathan, but he just said, "I can bring him in," and strode past her. Annie grinned up at Haley before skipping beside Nathan into her room.

Haley closed the front door, put her purse down on the side table and leaned her head back against the wall. She felt completely ridiculous; Annie's comments – and Nathan's reply – still ringing in her head. The possibility that she was reading too much into the situation was apparent, but it did not reduce her embarrassment. She sighed and folded her arms, hugging the jacket closer to herself.

"You know, you can keep that if you want."

Haley looked up, and saw Nathan walking towards her. "What?"

"My jacket, you can keep it." Now he was standing in front of her. "It looks better on you anyway."

Haley silently swore to herself that she was not going to fall for what was arguably one of the most clichéd lines in history. Unfortunately for Haley, when Nathan said it he was also smirking at her. Her cheeks turned red in a second.

Nathan cleared his throat before continuing, "I put Michael in his bed, and Annie went to change."

"Thanks." Haley was more thankful that she could find her voice. "And, here," she took off Nathan's jacket, albeit reluctantly, and held it out to him.

"Are you sure you don't want it?"

Haley merely nodded.

Nathan took the jacket from her, and draped it on his arm. Then, they both stood there, seemingly waiting for the other to speak. "Well…I guess I should go."

Haley silently nodded again, and began to move away from the door, when Annie came running out of the room. "Hey, aren't you going to bed?"

"I'm not sleepy anymore. I want a story."

"Okay, then," Haley relented. "I'll be there in a minute."

"But, I want Nathan to read me the story."

"Oh! Well, Annie, I –"

"Sure, I'll read you a story," Nathan said, before Haley could finish. "What story is it?"

"Let's go choose." Annie gestured to Nathan to follow her and, after glancing back at Haley and putting his jacket on the coat rack, he did.

Haley watched Nathan walk into Annie and Michael's bedroom. She remained there for a few minutes quietly processing in her mind what had just happened.

"Mummy!" Annie poked her head out the door. "Aren't you coming too?"

"Oh...Yes, of course."

……………

Nathan shut the book in his hands, and tried to get up from his chair without making a noise. On one side of him was Michael's bed; on the other was Annie's. It hadn't taken Annie long, or even the whole story, to fall asleep. Despite her energy when they arrived, he had expected her to doze off quite soon, and she did. What Nathan hadn't expected, however, was for Haley, who was lying down next to Annie on her bed, to also fall asleep.

He walked stealthily towards the bookcase and placed the book back on the shelf. Then he made his way back to Annie's bed, and crouched down beside Haley's sleeping form. Her breathing was steady and she looked so peaceful that he didn't want to do anything to wake her. But, Annie's bed was only a single, and by the looks of it either Haley or Annie would fall off if he left them both there.

Nathan took a deep breath and in one fluid motion scooped Haley into his arms. Then he stood up, and took a few moments to grow accustomed to the weight. She wasn't exactly heavy, but carrying her was not going to be as easy carrying Michael or Annie. For obvious reasons. As he held her, Haley's head shifted to rest in the side of Nathan's neck. So as not to allow himself any more time to ponder over the fact that his hands were in contact with the smooth skin of her arm and knee, or the way her hair felt soft, he moved out of the children's bedroom and made his way into Haley's as soon as possible.

He placed her gently on the double bed, and her body turned to its side, facing him. Nathan reached down and pulled the covers over Haley, up to her neck, before brushing her hair aside so that he could see her face. Her mouth was slightly parted, almost inviting him to kiss her. Well…he was only a few centimeters away. He then scolded himself for even considering it. _She's asleep! It's probably illegal!_

Whispering goodnight, he stood up again and looked about her bedroom. After all, he had never been here before; but he couldn't see much in the darkness and didn't want to risk awakening her by turning a light on. He did manage to spot, however, some pictures on her dressing table mirror.

As Nathan made his way out of the apartment, and back to his own, he smiled at the thought of these photographs; one in particular. It had been taken on a day he had gone with Haley, Annie and Michael to the park, when they were about two and a half. In the picture, the four of them were sitting on the grass and grinning at the camera. Nathan had the same photo up in his room.


	7. Sunday Morning Song

**A/N:** I just saw 'An Attempt to Tip the Scales' and am badly in need of fluffy Naley therapy

**Chapter Seven**

_Sunday. Noon._

Lucas moved his work files so there was space for him to put down the glasses on his kitchen counter. As he poured their drinks, he asked his guest, "So did you have fun last night?"

"Yeah, you're known for throwing the best parties, right Luke?" Nathan joked. "It wasn't the same without the fights, though."

"Hey, that was in high school! And you should never have been at those parties anyway, you were too young. You blackmailed me into letting you come."

"It wasn't blackmail…"

"You threatened to tell mum and dad about the parties if I didn't let you come, that's blackmail!"

"Well, maybe so. But I did have a good time last night. Although that was more after the party, rather than during it," Nathan admitted, taking a glass from Lucas.

"Oh, really? You and Haley had your own private after party?" Lucas smirked, raising his eyebrow suggestively.

"No!" Nathan cried. "It was nothing like that. Haley and I aren't like that."

Lucas sighed. "You're not honestly trying to tell me that you don't like her?"

"I'm trying to tell you that I'm not sleeping with her."

"So you _do_ like her," Lucas teased.

Nathan opened his mouth to protest but then realized that he couldn't argue. He'd just be lying.

Lucas noticed his brother's reactions and grinned triumphantly. "Aha! I knew it. She's cute," Lucas added. When Nathan started laughing, he asked, "What? You don't think so?"

"No, of course she is," Nathan said. "Haley's beautiful. It's just Uncle Keith said the same thing last night. And Haley was there when he said it."

Lucas chuckled. "That sounds just like Uncle Keith."

"Yeah," Nathan finished his drink and put the glass back down on the counter. "Well, I should get going. I have to drop this off at the office." Nathan stood up, gathering his things.

"Okay. I have to give Dad some of these files too," Lucas said, before accidentally bumping into his brother, causing him to drop what he was carrying. "Oh, jeez. Sorry Nate."

"It's okay." Nathan and Lucas both bent down to pick up the papers from the floor. Once they had got them all, Nathan put them down on the counter to put them in the correct order.

As Nathan sorted his papers out, Lucas noticed a letter to Nathan among them and recognized the return address. "Hey, isn't the address to your office?"

Nathan looked up and saw what Lucas was referring to. "Uh, yeah. They offered me a job."

"A different one?"

"Yeah. The guy who used to be the lead basketball writer for the paper resigned and they offered me the position."

"Nathan, that's great!"

"I turned them down."

"What?" Lucas exclaimed. "Why?"

"You have to go see, like, all the games live –"

"And you find that a reason not to take the job? Man, this job means free tickets to just about every major game in the league!"

"It also means living out of a suitcase for at least the next two years," Nathan explained. "I'll be on the road all of basketball season, Luke. I don't want that."

"Well, it's your decision and I can't tell you what to do." Lucas shrugged. "If you've thought about it and this is what you wanna do -"

"It is."

"Okay then."

……………

"Haley!"

She looked up with a start from the table she was cleaning. Or rather the table she was supposed to be cleaning. Haley's shift at the café had started not long ago, but while she was trying to work, her mind kept zoning out. Mostly on Nathan. She had already got three different customers' orders wrong that morning. They had all ordered coffee (possibly the easiest order she could take) and she had given them coffee – only she hadn't made them the way the customers had asked. No, she had made them the way Nathan took his coffee. Haley was slightly afraid that her employer was calling her to tell her off for not working well that morning and so, it was reluctantly that she turned around when her name was called. However, her boss, Mr. Kelly, did not look cross. Haley relaxed a little. "Yes?"

"We have a new waitress starting today and Martha is busy with a customer so I wanted you to tell her what she needs to do."

"Yeah, sure." Haley put down her napkin and followed him into the backroom. She was surprised to be greeted by a familiar face. "Karen?"

"Haley!"

Mr. Kelly looked between the two women. "You know each other?"

"Uh…Haley is a friend of my nephew's," Karen explained.

Mr. Kelly shrugged. "Guess that makes my job easier. Show her around, Haley. And, if you need anything Karen I'll be in my room."

"Thank you," Karen said to her new employer as he walked away, leaving her alone in the backroom with Haley. "Hello. I didn't expect to see you again so soon."

"Yeah, me neither," Haley smiled. "This is a really odd coincidence."

"Yes," Karen agreed. "But, I hope it's not awkward for you."

"No, not at all. What made you decide to be a waitress?"

"Well, I used to be a waitress while I was in high school and college. I planned on opening my own café but then I met Keith, we got married, and I got pregnant. But, Katie's older now and I decided to work a bit in the business again before opening my own place, but the plans are already underway."

"Wow that sounds interesting. I love café's but most people prefer to open clubs or restaurants."

"I just like the atmosphere of a nice old-fashioned café. Plus, that's how I met Keith. He was a regular customer at the café I worked."

Haley grinned, "That sounds like something right out of a film. Falling in love with your waitress."

Karen deliberated the point a bit. "I think falling for your neighbour has more screen appeal." Haley's face turned bright red, and Karen decided it was too early in the conversation to talk about that subject. "So do you work here everyday?"

"I work every weekday and every other Saturday. It's just one of the girls is ill so I have to cover for her," Haley said, recovering quickly.

"I see. But, what about your children?"

"I'm only here for a few hours today so I brought them with me. They're in the lunch room over there. Would you like to meet them?" The words slipped out of her mouth before she could think about it.

"Sure." Karen smiled.

Haley took Karen through the door on her right. Sitting at the table were Michael and Annie, who were busy with their crayons. When they heard the sound of the door opening they looked up. "Hi Mummy," Michael said.

"Hey, there's someone I'd like you to meet. Guys, this is Karen. Karen, these are my kids; Michael and Annie."

"Hello."

"Hi!" the children said enthusiastically, grinning at her. "Are you a new worker here?" Michael asked, having noticed her apron.

"Yes, I am."

"Karen's also Nathan's aunt," Haley told them.

"Really?" Annie looked excited by this. "Nathan's teaching me basketball."

"He taught my daughter basketball too."

"You have a daughter?" Annie asked.

"Yes, her name's Katie."

"Is she my age?"

"No," Karen smiled. "She's fourteen."

"Oh."

"Look what I drew Mummy." Michael showed Haley a picture.

"Wow, that's really good, Michael."

"Do you want to see?" he handed it to Karen.

Karen took the picture from him and saw what was supposed to be a garden with a lot of people standing in it. She smiled when she noticed that one of the people had had drawn was Nathan. "It's very impressive," she said as she gave the picture back.

Annie looked over Michael's shoulder to see his picture. "It looks weird."

"No, it's not! Peyton said it's impress – im-press-on –"

"Impressionist?" Haley offered.

"Yes!" Michael nodded.

Annie made a face. "But you've coloured my hair blue!"

……………

It was about three in the afternoon when Nathan returned to his apartment. He put his files on the side table and threw his jacket onto the sofa. He hadn't seen or spoken to Haley since last night and he was thinking about going to see if she was home when his phone rang. After a few minutes of searching he found it lodged between two cushions, and said, "Hello?"

The reply he received made him wish he hadn't been able to find the telephone. "Nathan!"

"Hello Dad."

"Lucas just told me that you turned down a job offer from your paper!"

Nathan sighed inwardly. He knew what was coming. "Yeah, I did."

"Are you out of your mind? Why would you turn down a promotion! Your salary increases -"

"Actually since the paper has to pay for the all the travel accommodation the pay rise isn't that much," Nathan tried to explain.

"But the prestige Nathan! There's a certain status you receive with a promotion and you've been offered one so early in your career! I didn't raise my sons to be idiots."

Nathan tried to remain calm but his temper was starting to get the better of him. His father had, after all, just called him an idiot. "Look, Dad, I've thought about it and I've made my decision. I don't want the job."

"Nathan, you listen to me, this jo-"

Nathan didn't hear the rest of what his father said, however, since the doorbell rang. "I'll call you back," he said quickly and hung up before Dan could protest. Nathan tossed the phone back onto the sofa and opened the door and for the second time in two days was struck with the sensation of breathlessness. She was wearing just jeans and a t-shirt, but he thought she looked just as beautiful as she did last night. Nathan had never been so glad to see Haley in his life. "Hey."

"Hi," she smiled at him.

"You're a total lifesaver."

"I am?"

"I was in the middle of a not-so-pleasant conversation with my Dad."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I guess there's no point me asking you how your day's been, then."

"True. It's getting better though." Nathan grinned when she blushed at his comment. "So did you sleep alright last night?" She smiled at him shyly and Nathan's grin widened.

"Yeah, thanks, you really didn't have to take me to my room. I hope I didn't say something weird or anything…" Haley's voice trailed off as she realized she had said that last sentence out loud, and her blushed deepened.

"No, you didn't say anything. Why, do you usually talk in your sleep?"

"No – well – I don't know. It's kind of been a while since someone's been in a position to let me know." Haley winced. She had just told him she hadn't slept with anyone in ages. Great. Real smooth. She took a deep breath and added, "You really didn't have to go to the trouble."

"It was my pleasure. Really." Nathan smirked.

Haley struggled to speak and was about to run a hand through her hair when she felt what she was holding, and remembered the real reason she had come there. _You mean the excuse_, her brain told her. "You forgot this," she held up his jacket.

Nathan shook his head. "I didn't forget it."

Haley frowned. "But…you left it at my place last night."

"I did. That doesn't mean that I forgot it." Haley was still confused, so Nathan explained, "Maybe I left it on purpose."

"And what purpose would that be?" Haley asked amused.

Nathan took the jacket from her and replied, "Maybe I needed an excuse to see you again."

Haley's mouth formed an 'O' but the actual sound didn't come out.

Nathan shifted on his feet, somewhat nervous. He scolded himself for being so, and tried to relax. It wasn't very easy with the way Haley was looking at him. He stuffed his hands into his jean pockets before starting, "So, I had a good time last night…"

"Yeah, I did too…" Haley smiled and looked up at him expectantly, but before Nathan could reply the door to her apartment opened and her son popped his head out.

"Mummy! You said you'd be back soon," Michael complained.

"Oh, yeah…" Haley's face fell.

"So aren't you coming?"

"I'll be right there." She expected Michael to go back inside, but he waited at the door for her. She looked apologetically at Nathan, "Sorry, I have to go."

"It's okay," he said. Although it was with a tinge of disappointment that he watched Haley return to her apartment.


	8. Brace Yourself

**A/N:** So, there are three things for me to mention in this note. Firstly, I know this chapter is relatively short (well, it's shorter than all the others) but I promise that it will be more than made up for in the following chapters. As regards to the remaining chapters, for those of you who say its taking ages to get Nathan and Haley together, it's not going to take much longer. This story is nearing its end (I would say we are in the 'home stretch' but I know next to nothing about baseball so I'd probably end up using the metaphor wrong) but I'm not going to tell you exactly how many chapters there are left! And finally, I have now named all the chapters (if you use the chapter list at the top/bottom of the page to navigate you'll see) because I was bored of them being just 'Chapter 1', 'Chapter 2', etc.) All the new chapter names are titles of songs by Howie Day, taken off his album 'Stop All The World Now'. Oh, and to **LiasonFan2**: that link would be great. Thanks!

**Chapter Eight**

Nathan changed the station on his car radio. He was driving home from work and needed something to take his mind off Haley. Whereas most people he knew (for example, his father) didn't even bother to know their neighbours, he was having trouble lately thinking about anything other than his. The hot redhead, that is, not the 50-year old bachelor who lived on the other side of him. Somehow everything seemed to have some sort of connection to Haley. He had driven past the docks and thought about the conversation they had had there only a few days ago. He had also passed the lane to go to Jake and Peyton's house and recalled how excited she had been that he was going to meet her brother. He had even seen a girl eating an ice cream cone and remembered that Haley didn't like cones and would only eat ice cream out of cups or straight from the container for god's sake! To add to his dilemma all the radio stations seemed to be playing what Nathan called 'sappy' love songs, about a boy in love with a girl, and on one in three stations this love was unrequited. So _not_ what he needed to hear right now.

Nathan looked out the window and realized that he was now on the same road as the café where Haley worked. As his car neared the café he quickly thought over the many pros and cons to stopping there – a significant con being the fact that his Aunt Karen now worked there – but eventually decided to forget them all. He parked and got out of his car without giving himself time to think over his actions. He strode into the café and looked around for Haley, surprised when he couldn't locate her. He checked his watch and saw that it was still her shift, since it wasn't time for her to pick up Annie and Michael from school yet. He thought of the possibility that she was sick, but told himself that he would probably know if that was the case. Then he heard a voice call out his name. Thinking that he had simply missed her in the crowd, Nathan turned around expecting to be greeted by Haley. However, the voice belonged to someone else. "Aunt Karen!"

Karen walked up to her nephew and gave him a quick hug. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, I…I was on my way home from the office and I thought I'd stop by and see how you were doing on your new job."

Karen cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow. "And by that you mean you came in to see Haley."

"N-no! I mean, she's not even here!"

"Nate, honey, relax. I think the two of you would make an adorable couple. And you don't need to worry; Haley's just in the back."

"I-I we-" Nathan stuttered.

"Would you like me to go call her?"

"N-no."

Karen smiled. "If it makes you feel any better I think she likes you too."

Nathan stopped at this. "I-I really did come to see you," he said shyly.

"Of course you did."

At that moment, the back door opened and Haley walked out. Her eyes immediately fell upon the man and woman standing in the middle of the café. "Nathan? What are you doing here?"

"He came to visit me, isn't that right Nate?" Aunt Karen asked him knowingly.

He stuffed his hands into his pockets and nodded more at the floor than anyone in particular.

"Well, I have to see to table 3." And with that, Karen left, leaving them standing there.

"Hi," Haley said, walking closer to him tentatively.

"Hey." He forced himself to look at her, feeling that it would seem rather rude if he didn't, and also a waste of his time since he had – despite his vehement denial of the fact – stopped at the café solely to see her. When he did finally look at her, he noticed she wasn't wearing her normal ensemble of jeans and a t-shirt. Instead, she had on a collared dress. "Is this a uniform?"

"Yeah, they decided that we had to get uniforms to look better presented or something. The owner's starting a franchise or something so…" Haley shrugged.

"But, Aunt Karen wasn't wearing one."

"They haven't got one for her yet since she only started working so recently. She's lucky, these things look ridiculous."

"I don't think you look ridiculous," Nathan said honestly. He actually quite liked the way Haley looked in the uniform. It was pink check with buttons all the way down to where it ended on her mid-thigh, and she wore it with sports trainers. Nathan gulped. This was definitely one image he would recall later that night. Scolding himself for being nervous, he did his best to stay 'cool'. "Actually, I think you look kinda sexy."

Haley felt her face heat up. "I-er-oh-thanks."

Nathan smirked. "Hey, I should really be thanking you."

"Why? – Oh!" Haley felt her face turn brighter, if that was possible. Taking a deep breath she swiftly changed the conversation. "So do you want to get something? Food? Coffee?" she asked, walking behind the counter as she spoke.

Nathan followed her, and sat down on one of the stools. "I'll have a coke."

"Okay." Haley was glad she had something to do that would stop her staring at Nathan. (Un)fortunately, a coke was not a very lengthy order to fill so she was back soon to place the drink in front of him. And resume the staring.

"Thanks." As Nathan picked up the drink and took a sip, Haley found herself staring at his arms. The short sleeves of his polo shirt showed them off and they soon formed the majority of her thoughts. They looked really…strong. "Hey…is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah! Everything's fine. Of course everything's fine. Why – why would you ask?" Haley then forced her mouth shut so that no more words spewed out.

Nathan shrugged, putting the drink back on the counter. "You just seemed a little spaced out."

Great. He had caught her thinking about his _arms_. Or rather, his arms being in very interesting places. Haley took a deep breath, forcing her eyes upwards before they strayed to his hands or anywhere lower down. "I'm fine. Just a little tired." _That wasn't a lie_, she thought to herself. She truly was tired. However, Nathan's presence seemed to dispel all feelings of fatigue in her. And replace them with a much more…exciting emotion.

Nathan nodded. "Well, I should get going."

"Oh, right." Just as Nathan was reaching for his wallet, Haley asked, "What are you doing tomorrow night?"

Nathan looked up. "Tomorrow?"

"Er…yeah." Haley said, still shocked that she had just asked him that.

"Nothing much. Why?"

"Well…" Haley began to explain. "There's gonna be this movie night thing at my apartment."

"You've been having movie nights and never invited me?" Nathan's tone was joking, but he took it to heart.

"No! Tomorrow's going to be the first one! Sort of."

"I am officially confused."

Haley sighed. "When we were in high school Jake and I, plus two of our friends, used to have this movie night thing. Then, when we started college, it was me, Peyton and Jake. But, when I got pregnant –"

"You stopped," Nathan finished for her.

"Exactly. I used to always have movie marathons and TV show marathons, but I don't exactly have much time for it now."

"But you were thinking of starting it up again?"

"Yeah. Anyway, there's a movie marathon on TV tomorrow night. It'll just be me, Peyton and Jake, and junk food. Annie and Michael will be sleeping. So…do you wanna come?" Haley asked, infinitely more nervous than she would have liked.

"Yeah, I'll be there." The two shared a smile, which almost caused both to revert to staring mode. "Oh, how much for the coke?"

Haley shook her head. "It's on the house."

Nathan smiled again. "Thanks. Well, I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Tomorrow." Haley grinned, and it continued long after Nathan walked out the café door.


	9. This Time Around

**A/N:** I'll keep it short so that you can get into the story. Thanks for all the reviews, I love reading them. This is the longest chapter yet (which fulfils my promise of making up for the last chapter), I hope you like it ;)

**Chapter Nine**

Haley picked up one of the many tops she had on her bed and put it on. Observing her reflection in the mirror, Haley decided that she preferred this top to the last one she had worn, but thought its off-shoulder sleeves were too dressy for the occasion. After all, she didn't want to look as though she'd tried too hard. It was just a relaxed movie night with her friends. And with Nathan.

Sighing, she discarded it and tugged her white vest back over her head. Before she could choose another top to wear with her jeans Haley heard her son call from the living room. She quickly put her purple cardigan over the vest, tying it up as she walked out of her room. "Yes, honey? Do you want me to tuck you in?" she asked Michael, who was standing right outside her door.

He nodded. "Annie's waiting in the room."

Haley was about to take him to bed, but was interrupted by the sound of her front door opening. She looked up and saw Jake and Peyton entering. "Hi!"

"Hey. We thought you might be in the room, so we just used the key you gave us," Jake explained.

"Hi Uncle Jake! Hi Peyton."

"Hi!" Peyton walked further inside the house and picked the little boy up. "How's my number one guy?"

"Hey! I thought I was your number one guy!" Jake frowned as he moved to stand next to Peyton.

"No, baby," she shook her head, "you're second."

Jake faked sorrow, and Michael made a face at him as if to say 'Ha!' and leaned into Peyton's embrace, before proceeding to tell her about his latest drawings.

Jake noticed the amused look Haley was giving them, and walked up to his little sister, handing her the bag in his hands. "We brought ice cream," he said softly so that Michael couldn't hear.

"Thanks." She left them to put the ice cream in the freezer, but when she returned from the kitchen Haley found another person in her apartment. "Nathan!"

"Hey. I'm not late, am I?" he asked, moving away from the front door that Jake had just opened for him.

"No, the marathon hasn't started yet," Haley replied, while thinking that he was too early and now she couldn't change and look pretty (interspersed with thoughts about how the dark blue of the long sleeved t-shirt he was wearing underneath his open brown shirt brought out the light blue of his eyes).

"Mummy, can you tuck me in now?"

"Yeah!" Haley suddenly remembered that there were other people in the room. "Let's go," she said taking Michael's hand. This time she was interrupted by the entrance of her daughter.

"Mummy, Mummy! Guess what I saw! Oh – hi everybody!" Peyton, Jake and Nathan all said hello to Annie, who then returned to her previous state of excitement. "Guess what I saw outside the window?"

"What did you see, honey?" Haley prayed that the couple in the house opposite the kids' bedroom window had remembered to shut their curtains.

"There was a shooting star!"

"Did you make a wish?" Peyton asked, to which Annie replied by nodding vigorously.

"Aw, that won't make a wish come true," Michael stated.

"How would you know?" Annie said to her brother. "Do you know everything?"

"Yes."

Jake and Nathan laughed as Haley set about telling Michael that he certainly did not know everything, and if Annie wanted to wish on shooting stars, he should let her. Annie and Michael then said goodnight to everyone, and Haley took them to their bedroom.

At first an awkward silence spread over the three left in the living room since they had only met each other a few times. Peyton broke it by talking to Nathan. "So how've you been?"

"Good. And you guys?"

"Good," Peyton nodded. "Actually, we're going to Charleston tomorrow."

"Oh, really? Going to meet your in-laws, huh?" Nathan joked.

"Future in-laws," Peyton corrected him with a smile. "And, I've actually met them before, but, yeah."

"That didn't actually work out so well for my brother."

"Oh, why not?"

"It turned out Brooke's Dad bought a car from my Dad's company a couple years ago, but after he bought it he found out the car was actually worth less than what he'd paid. Lucas wasn't even working for my Dad then, but Mr. Davis was still pretty harsh."

"Oh my god!" Peyton laughed. "I hope things weren't so bad with her Mum."

"Oh no, Brooke's Mum liked him. Apparently a little too much."

Peyton burst into fits of giggles, stopping only when she noticed Jake just standing there and looking at them. She poked him in the side to get him to start talking.

"So..." Jake began. "Have you ever been engaged?" Peyton poked him again. "I meant, have you ever been to Charleston?"

"Uh, no and no." Nathan smiled lightly. "My Uncle Keith went to Charleston once; he said it's a really nice place."

"It is. You should go sometime." Peyton decided it was better that Jake didn't talk. If he didn't say anything it was possible Nathan wouldn't notice the looks Jake was sending his way. "So what are you doing this weekend?"

"Well, tomorrow night there's this benefit dinner being given by the foundation that my Mum works for, so I'm going for that."

"Oh, that sounds nice." Haley had just finished putting the kids to sleep, and caught the last of the conversation.

"Since my Dad's gonna be there I have to disagree."

Haley smiled. "Hey, it's nearly time for the marathon to start, so why don't you guys put the TV on and get settled while Peyton and I grab some food from the kitchen."

Peyton knew that if Haley had been in the room earlier she would not have proposed to leave Nathan alone with Jake, but now she couldn't change the arrangement, so she went with Haley into the kitchen.

As Haley was pouring popcorn into a bowl she turned to her friend. "How do you think I look? And I mean honestly."

"You look great."

"You didn't even look at me!"

"Actually Haley I've been in your apartment a while now so I know what you look like. And you always look super hot anyways so I wouldn't even have to look."

Haley rolled her eyes. She felt better at Peyton's comment but she still wasn't completely satisfied. "I just feel really nervous," she admitted.

"And you thought having me and Jake around on your first-slash-second date with Nathan, depending which way you see it, would make you less nervous?"

"Yes – maybe – I don't know. I just…he was walking out the café yesterday and I didn't want him to go just yet and I remembered that we were having movie night and then –"

"Hales!"

"Sorry."

"It's okay," Peyton said, placing her hand on Haley's back comfortingly. "Haley, you just need to relax."

"Yeah, relax." Haley nodded.

"Don't worry; everything's going to be fine. Just as long as we get out of here now and don't leave Nathan alone with Jake any more."

………

As Haley and Peyton left the living room, Nathan unconsciously watched Haley's retreating figure. His gaze was at first focused on her soft hair, before falling to the small expanse of creamy skin visible between her top and jeans. He then found his line of vision falling slightly below the waistband of her jeans, until he remembered with a sharp shock that Jake was in the room with him. His head suddenly shot up and looked straight at the wall in front of him until the girls were completely out of the room. He turned to look at Jake. When he was received with what could only be described as a 'death glare', Nathan decided it was best not to make eye contact with Jake. At all. "So…shall we sit down?"

"Oh, I think we'd better."

That sounded ominous.

Nathan moved towards the couch and sat down on the left edge of the large four-seater, switching the TV on. Haley and Peyton re-entered the living room carrying bowls of food. "Ooh, we're just in time," Peyton commented. "Thanks," she added when Jake took the bowl out of her hands, before she went to the couch. Haley and Jake walked up behind her, and moved further inside once she had sat down on the right side. Although Haley was in front of Jake, he managed to maneuver them so that he could move to the left of her, and sat down next to Nathan. The only place left for Haley to sit was in between Peyton and Jake, so she did just that. Peyton pushed her head back into the couch and looked over at her fiancé with a glare that could rival the ones he had given Nathan. However, Jake just smiled at her, and then leaned back to watch the movie.

……………

As the end credits for 'The Sixth Sense' began to roll Peyton turned her head to her left to look at her companions. No one had said a word during the movie and they were all still quite silent. Deciding to be the one to break the silence – again – Peyton said, "So shall we refill some of these?"

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Haley piped up and started picking them up from the coffee table.

"I'll help." Nathan stood up and took two of the bowls into his hand.

As Peyton, Haley and Nathan all left the couch, Jake decided he should get up too, especially because he didn't know where Nathan would be sitting for the next three films. He walked behind them, but as they made their way to the kitchen, Jake noticed that the door of Annie and Michael's room was slightly ajar. "Haley, you left the kids door open."

Haley was about to reply, but she didn't have to. "Annie freaks out if she wakes up in the night and there's no light," Nathan explained.

At that moment Peyton knew that Nathan was perfect for Haley. She also saw that Jake's stern expression had noticeably softened, but the moment she caught his eye and gave him an 'I told you so' look, he looked back at her, as if unfazed.

Once Haley and Nathan were safely in the kitchen, Peyton took her future husband by the arm and led him back towards the television so they could not be heard.

"Peyton, you're hurting my arm!"

"That's not the only thing that's gonna be hurting, if you keep this up," Peyton said sternly.

Jake's eyes glinted mischievously. "Are you talking dirty with me? Ow!" he added, when he received she hit his arm. "Come on baby, I was joking."

"Jake Jaigelski, I know what you are trying to do."

"I'm not trying to do anything."

Peyton rolled her eyes. "You do realize that you could scare Nathan away."

"And what's so wrong with that? He's not good enough for Haley."

"Why? Because he's wealthy? Because he has a good job? Because he's totally hot?"

"Just because he's rich and has a job – you think he's hot?"

"Yeah."

Jake pointed to himself. "Hello, fiancé here."

"So, it's not like I don't notice. And don't tell me that you don't either, 'cause you were totally checking out the girl at the supermarket yesterday," she told him. "Don't try to deny it," Peyton added, when Jake opened his mouth to protest.

"But that doesn't mean anything. I don't go after other girls. I love you and I come home to you everyday."

"And I'm not going after Nathan – well, not for me. But _you_ may not still be coming home to me if this continues. At least, not to the bedroom." She raised her eyebrows so that Jake caught her drift, and then went back to the kitchen.

………

Haley placed the bowls she was carrying on the kitchen worktop and turned around to see that the only person behind her was Nathan. "I thought Peyton was coming," she said.

Nathan glanced over his shoulder, before replying, "I think she and Jake went back to the living room."

"Oh." Haley took a deep breath. This meant she was alone with Nathan. Well, not alone in the way she wanted to be (except that the very thought gave her goosebumps and the urge to throw up simultaneously), but as alone as seemed possible.

"Shall I put some more popcorn in here?" Nathan asked, gesturing to an empty bowl.

Haley merely nodded.

He had to turn away from her to get the bag of popcorn, and Haley had to will herself not to check out the nice fit of his jeans. Deciding to get a drink, Haley went to reach for a glass on the upper shelves, before remembering that she couldn't reach up there. She looked around for the stool she usually kept for this purpose, but she had put it in her room earlier because guests were coming. While debating whether or not to go get the stool or just not have the drink, Haley heard him call, "Do you need some help?"

"I just need to get a glass," Haley replied without looking at him. Nathan came up behind her and easily took the glass from the shelf. God, he had nice arms. Shaking her head, Haley spun around to take the glass and found him towering over her. She had never realized how tall he really was before. She had to tilt her head all the way up to meet his ocean blue eyes. Haley tried to say, "Thanks," but the words seemed to come out as a whisper.

"You're welcome." He put the glass into her hand and she shivered slightly at the contact with his hand.

Haley's grip around the glass tightened and she felt herself wondering at what might happen, especially since neither he nor she had moved away. However, any further developments were halted by the entrance of Peyton and, not much later, a slightly disgruntled Jake.

Not many words passed between the four of them as they sorted out the food, providing Nathan with ample opportunity to steal glances at Haley. When they got back to the living room the opening credits for 'Unbreakable' had already begun. Nathan went to his earlier seat, but was surprised when Jake sat down farthest from him. He noticed this caused Peyton to smile, and she sat down next to Jake, snuggling up to him. Which meant…

Haley tentatively moved in between the sofa and coffee table and sat down next to Nathan, in the sense that she was the closest person to him, rather than her being really next to him. Nathan sighed, looking at her, knowing it was a good thing he had already seen this movie, since he was unlikely to be able to concentrate on it now. He rested his head back trying to relax, and on reflex his right arm moved up to drape itself on the couch. Unfortunately, as he did this, his head moved and locked eyes with Jake. Sighing again, Nathan brought his arm back down and folded it across his chest. It was going to be a long night.

……………

Peyton smiled as she looked over her shoulder at Haley and Nathan. In the break between the last two movies they had conversed slightly, and Haley had been progressively been sitting closer to Nathan (mostly due to the fact that Peyton had been kicking Haley in his direction). However, Peyton knew things could not go any further as long as she and Jake were there. She leaned back into Jake's warm body and let out a long breath.

"You ok?" he asked, concerned.

She smiled at the opening he'd just given her. "Actually, I am a little tired. _And,_ since we have to get up early tomorrow to go to Charleston, I was thinking maybe we should go home."

"Go home?" Haley inquired. "There's just one movie left."

"I know," Peyton said, turning round to her friend, "But I'm really sleepy and I don't think I'll get any rest on the trip."

Jake looked like he wanted to stay on, but knew better than to say anything. As a result, in just a few minutes, Jake and Peyton had said goodbye, promised to call Haley when they arrived in Charleston tomorrow, and left her alone with Nathan.

Nathan smiled lightly at Haley. After she had gotten up to show Jake and Peyton out, she had returned to the couch, but sat at a considerable distance away from him. At least, in comparison to the way her hair had fallen on his shoulder previously. The scent of her hair was now ingrained in his memory, but he had no idea what happened in the last half an hour of 'Signs'. "So…is this last movie good?"

"You've never seen 'The Village' before?"

He shook his head. "No."

"Well, some people say that 'The Sixth Sense' is his masterpiece and that all the movies went downhill from there, but I actually really liked 'The Village'."

"I remember Katie telling me that she liked it too. But I think that had something to do with the guy in it. The one with the bird name."

Haley laughed. "Joaquin Phoenix? He's a little old for Katie. But, yeah, he is kinda cute."

"You like him?" Nathan inwardly frowned. He had to compete with movie stars now?

"What can I say? I have a thing for tall, handsome guys with dark hair," she grinned.

Nathan's eyes shot up at this. Desperately struggling not to show his nervousness, he moved a little closer to Haley. "I'm pretty tall. And I have dark hair."

"I know." Whoa. She was definitely moving closer to him too.

Taking a deep breath he continued, "And I have been called handsome by many."

Haley felt like a teenager again at the butterflies that were mounting in her stomach from the closeness of his face. She did her best to keep her nerves in check. "Well, you certainly think a lot of yourself."

He smirked. "Why argue with perfection?"

Haley couldn't suppress a giggle. Oh, he was perfect all right. She began to run her hand over the soft material of the sofa to relax, but this had the complete opposite effect on her when her hand came into contact with his knee. A voice in the back of her mind shouted at the hand to return to the safety of her own side of the couch, but it stubbornly refused to comply. Nathan was no better; he made no attempt to move his knee. In fact, he was moving his face closer to hers.

"Haley…" His voice was a few notches lower and she could feel his breath on her face. Oh god.

Haley felt incapable of speech, so she just kept looking at him, without breaking his gaze.

Nathan was unsure of what he wanted to say, and was having even more difficulty remembering now that her face was so close, their noses were almost touching. He opened his mouth, and heard himself say, "Is this a date?" _What?_ That wasn't what he wanted to say.

"A date?" Haley squeaked. "Um…well, I – it was just movies and food – and we weren't even sitting next to each other first – although that was kind of Jake's fault – and since Jake and Peyton were here ifitwasadatethenitwouldbeadoubledateand –" Haley stopped when she realized Nathan was grinning. "You're laughing at me," she said sadly, crossing her arms over her chest and moving away from him.

"No," he replied immediately. "No, I'm not laughing at you, I…I think it's cute."

"My babbling?" she looked up with a slightly amused, slightly happy smile.

"Yeah. And just you in general."

"Oh." She took a deep breath and asked, "Did you want it to be a date?"

"Yes." And then he kissed her, gently brushing his lips against hers. But, before Haley could respond he had stopped and moved back to his side of the couch.

Heartbeat racing, Haley wiped her hands on the sides of her jeans and adjusted her position so that she was kneeling on the couch, and facing Nathan. "I wanted it to be a date too," she breathed. She cupped his face in her hands, forcing his blue eyes to meet her brown ones, and leaned over to kiss him.

The kiss was gentle at first, but grew more passionate as they became more comfortable. Nathan's hand came up to tangle in her thick hair and he deepened the kiss, only drawing back when the need for oxygen became an issue. He rested his forehead against hers and saw her eyes were sparkling. Hearing the noise emitting from the television, Nathan asked "I thought you wanted to watch the movie?"

She smiled. "I've seen it before. Remember?"

Smirking, he kissed her again, and his free hand snaked around her waist to draw her closer to him. Without breaking the kiss, they both moved so that now her legs were on either side of his. Nathan leaned them both back into the side of the couch and Haley put her arms around his neck, so now her entire body was touching him.

All sense of time was lost as they continued kissing and Haley was unaware of anything aside from Nathan and they way he was making her feel. However, she was brought back to reality when she heard a loud noise somewhere in the apartment that had not come from the TV. She tore herself away from Nathan just in time to see two small figures standing in the doorway of the smaller bedroom. The moment they realized that their mother had seen them, Annie and Michael ran back inside their room, giggling.

Haley blushed harder than she ever had in her life. Her children had caught her straddling a man on their couch! And not just any man, Nathan! She looked back at him and could tell that he had seen them too. He was smiling, but clearly very embarrassed.

"Oh my God."

"Well…" Nathan was at a loss for words to lighten the situation. "At least now we now how to tell them about us."

Haley laughed and rested her head on Nathan's shoulder. A second later, she realized what he had just said and her head shot back up. "What?"

"I said, 'now we know how to tell them about us'. Why?"

Haley just grinned. She kissed him, but kept it short and sweet so that she wouldn't lose herself in the kiss again. "Well, let's go tell them now, _boyfriend_." Nathan was slightly confused by her sudden excitement, but followed her to the children's room. Suddenly, she repeated, "Oh my God," and turned back round.

"What is it?"

Haley gestured to the front tie of her cardigan, which had come undone during while they were making out. "I almost went into their room like this." She tugged at it urgently, all her embarrassment flooding back. "So…" she said to Nathan when she was done, "how do I look?"

Taking in her slightly mussed up hair and swollen lips he grinned. "Very sexy."

She brought a hand to her face as she felt it turn red. "I'm about to have a somewhat serious talk with my children, I'm not supposed to look sexy."

Nathan wrapped his hands around her waist, and drew her towards him. "Then I'm afraid you have a very serious problem because you always look sexy."

Haley looked at him with a serious expression, although she was privately thrilled by what he had just said. "Why don't we just get this over with?"

"Whatever you say." Nathan smirked and kissed her nose. He took her hand in his and led her to the children's room. After knocking on the door, he pushed it open further.

Annie and Michael were in their beds, with their eyes closed, but it was obvious that neither was asleep. Haley walked in front and said, "I know you're awake."

In unison, they both opened their eyes and grinned.

Unable to hold back a smile, Haley began, "In regards to what you saw…" Haley broke off when she remembered at one point Nathan had been kissing her neck, and she wondered just how much they had seen. "Um…"

"Are you dating?" questioned Michael.

"Yes," Nathan replied.

Haley wasn't sure what she expected her children's reactions to be, but she definitely wasn't prepared for what she received.

"Finally," Annie said, causing Nathan to chuckle.

Then Michael began to sing. "Mummy and Nath-an sitting in a tree, K-I-"

"Michael!" Haley exclaimed.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"Just go back to sleep." Haley didn't know what else to say. "The both of you."

They sing-songed their goodnights to Haley and Nathan and closed their eyes, but Haley was sure she could hear Michael resuming the song quietly after they had left the room.

"So…" Nathan looked down at Haley. "Do you want to _watch_ the rest of the movie?"

Haley giggled. Wrapping her arms around him, she sighed. "I don't think so."

"Do you want me to go?"

She looked up at him, and was glad to see that he didn't appear upset. "That might be best." When he nodded, she added, "But you could come by for breakfast tomorrow?"

Nathan grinned. "I will. But you might have to come by and wake me up. And once I get you in my bedroom I think breakfast might get delayed," he winked. Haley rolled her eyes at him. He held her hand as they walked to her front door, and she opened it for him. He went into the corridor and whispered, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." He moved closer to her and began to lean down, making Haley think he was about to kiss her. She closed her eyes in anticipation, but was surprised when she felt him lift up her hand and press a soft kiss into her palm. Haley opened her eyes and saw Nathan smirking at her, before he walked into his apartment and closed the door behind him.


	10. I'll Take You On

**A/N: **Hi! This is the penultimate chapter, i.e. the next chapter will be the end of this story! I can't believe it's so soon! Anyway, I'll have more about that next time when I'm writing my last author's note!  Hope you like this chapter

**Chapter Ten**

Nathan leaned back in his chair and sighed again. He had arrived at the foundation dinner about ten minutes ago and still couldn't find any of his family. The hall was far too crowded to even find space to move so he had finally decided to sit down and hope that someone would find him. He glanced at his watch and wondered if he could leave – he had, after all, turned up like his mother asked him too. If he waited until he met someone he knew they would probably force him to stay longer, and there was somewhere else Nathan would much rather be.

Smiling, Nathan flipped open his phone and dialed. She picked up on the second ring. "Hello?"

"Hey gorgeous."

Back at her apartment, Haley felt her heat flutter at the mere sound of his voice. "Nathan? I thought you were at your Mum's dinner thing?"

"I am, but it's really boring. I can't even find anyone here, it's so crowded. I could always come home and then come over," Nathan offered.

Haley grinned. "As tempting as that sounds, you know you have to stay. It means a lot to your Mum. Besides, you spent the whole day with me."

Nathan smirked as he remembered the day's events. Haley had woken him up, as promised, and then he had had breakfast with her and the kids, and spent the morning with them. After they had left because Haley had work, Nathan had hung around his apartment for a while, before heading out to the café and spending the rest of his time there. "So," Nathan joked, "you've got fed up of me already?"

"No! I would very much like to see you again, but I know and you know, that you have to be there."

Nathan groaned. She was right. As Always. "Well, if this thing finishes early can I come see you?"

"Of course. Now go find someone you know."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Bye."

"Bye."

"Nathan!" Haley exclaimed after a few seconds.

"Yes?"

"You didn't hang up."

"Well, I was waiting for you to hang up," he explained.

"Well, I was waiting for you." They both paused and grinned when they realized what they had said. "We're not going to have _that_ fight, are we?"

"I think we are."

Haley giggled.

"Well, I can see Uncle Keith nearby so I should probably talk to him before he disappears in the crowd."

"Yeah, I have to give the kids their dinner."

"Give my love to Annie and Michael."

"I will. See you tomorrow?"

"Or tonight. You never know, you might get lucky."

Haley laughed again. "I'll keep my hopes up, then." Letting out a deep breath, she finally said, "Bye."

"Bye." Very reluctantly, Nathan hung up and walked over to his Uncle Keith.

"Nate, there you are," Keith said when he saw him. "What's got you in such a good mood?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your grin is threatening to swallow your whole face. Now, I know we get along well, but I don't think you like me _that_ much. So, I'm guessing it's a girl…possibly Haley?"

Nathan had informed Lucas about him and Haley when he called him that afternoon, so he momentarily wondered whether his brother had told Keith, but Keith seemed more like he was teasing Nathan than that he actually knew. Nathan paused before saying, "Haley and I are dating."

"Yes!"

Nathan and Keith turned around to see who had shouted. "Katie?"

"So you finally worked up the guts to ask her out, huh? Or did you two just suddenly start passionately making out on the couch?"

Nathan stared with wide eyes at his cousin and hoped that his voice wouldn't give away his embarrassment. "Er…I don't think I'm gonna answer that question."

Karen came up to the group as Keith started laughing. "What's so funny?" she asked.

"Nathan got together with Haley," Katie said.

Karen looked confused. "What's funny about that? Haley's a lovely girl; I'm very happy for you Nathan."

"Thanks, Aunt Karen."

"No, Mum, Dad was laughing at something else I said. And I like Haley too; she'd definitely be a great cousin-in-law."

It was Nathan's turn to be confused. "What do you mean 'cousin-in-law'?"

"Well, you're my cousin, so when you get married she'll be my cousin-in-law."

"Katie, we're dating, we're not getting married," Nathan said seriously.

"Well, obviously not today, but someday! You have to marry her Nathan, 'cause I need another cousin-in-law. If I have to hang out with Brooke again I'll go crazy!"

"What?"

Karen smiled. "Lucas and Dan started talking business so Deb asked Katie to show Brooke around the place."

"I take it wasn't much fun," Keith said.

"For, like, every single person I introduced her to she had something to say about their outfit. I don't how I survived without running away and leaving her somewhere."

"Brooke's not that bad," Nathan said honestly. "You just have to get to know her."

"Yeah, well, you know her _real_ well," Katie raised her eyebrow at him.

"Katie!" Karen exclaimed. "Why don't we go take a look around?"

"Okay, Mum. Say hi to Haley for me, will you?"

"Yeah, ok." Nathan nodded as his aunt and cousin walked off.

"So, Nate, do you think –" Keith began, but was interrupted by a loud booming voice coming from the left of them.

"Nathan!"

Nathan closed his eyes with a sinking heart. He didn't have to turn around to recognize that voice. Its owner soon appeared at their side.

"Dan." Keith tried to keep the situation light, but Dan took no notice of his brother.

"Nathan, we need to talk."

……………

Haley quietly tip-toed out of her children's bed room and closed the door behind her, making sure to leave a small gap. She walked back to the kitchen and as she finished putting away the dishes her thoughts drifted back to Nathan. Ever since he had phoned and said he might come there tonight she kept checking the clock to see the time. Whereas the time they had spent together that morning had gone by so fast, now that she was waiting for him time seemed to pass really slowly.

She recalled the day with a smile. He had surprised her by turning up at the café less than an hour after they said goodbye at the apartment. He said that he had missed her and Haley was so happy that she kissed him in front of everyone. She was pretty embarrassed about that afterwards, but Nathan was worth it.

The phone rang, pulling Haley out of her thoughts. "Hello?"

"Hey, future-step-sister-in-law."

"Oh, Peyton."

"Gee, you sound super pleased to hear from your best friend who you won't see till Monday."

Haley smiled. "I am glad to hear from you; I just thought it was Nathan."

"Oh, how is lover boy?"

Before Haley could answer she heard Jake grumbling in the background and laughed. When Peyton and Jake had arrived at Charleston they had phoned, and Haley had spoken to them as well as her Mum and step Dad. Jake hadn't been too pleased when she had told them about Nathan. "What did Jake just say?"

"Oh, just something about 'doesn't Nathan ever go to his own apartment'," Peyton said. "Never mind him; he's left the room, so now you can give me details! What exactly happened last night?"

Haley took a deep breath and proceeded to tell her friend everything that had happened after she left.

………

Haley lifted her head up from the couch and pressed the stereo remote to change the song. After her conversation with Peyton she had been listening to some CDs with the volume on low so Annie and Michael wouldn't wake up. The next song began to play; it was slow and dreamy and reminded her of Nathan. Speaking of Nathan…

There was soft knock on the door, causing Haley to jump up from her seat. She put the remote down on the couch and smoothed out her hair before opening the door. "Hi," she smiled at Nathan.

He smiled back and then kissed her. "Hi," he said once he had broken away.

"Hi," she repeated. "I didn't think you'd come so early."

"I had to get out of there." He walked inside and she closed the door behind him. "You were listening to something?" he asked when he heard the music.

"Oh, yeah, I was just…killing time."

"Waiting for me?" Nathan raised his eyebrows at her.

Haley rolled her eyes at him although this was exactly was she had been doing. "Just relaxing."

"Nice song," he commented as he sat on the arm rest of the couch.

Haley smiled from where she stood opposite him. "Well, it's not exactly Kanye West, or whoever the latest rapper is, but I like it."

"What's to say I don't? I listen to more than just rap music, you know."

"You're a fan of Sarah McLachlan?"

"She has her moments." Nathan said, standing to move towards Haley. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him, before kissing her softly and slowly. Then he moved his head to rest against hers.

They remained like that for a few minutes, Haley idly playing with the buttons of his white shirt and breathing him in. Finally she asked him, "So, what happened at the dinner?"

Nathan sighed. "I ran into my Dad."

"You knew he was going to be there."

"Yeah, but I was kind of hoping I could avoid him the whole night. No such luck."

Haley pulled slightly out of his embrace to look into his face. He was smiling, but something was obviously wrong. "Well, what did he say?" A thought crossed her mind and she added, "Was it something about us?"

"No – well, not exactly." He looked down at Haley and the sadness on her face made Nathan want to physically hurt Dan for making her upset. And not for the first time. "It's not like that, Hales, well it's not just about us –"

"You're confusing me."

He took a deep breath and began to explain. "Last week I got offered a promotion at my office."

"That's great. Isn't it…" she added when Nathan didn't seem too enthused.

"I didn't take it."

"Why?"

"Because I'd be on the road all the time and I don't want that. My Dad, however, wants me to take the job. This isn't the first time he's 'talked' to me about it."

"Oh…but, I didn't even know about the job."

"Uh…Dan sort of found out about us and he thinks that now I'm not taking it because of you."

"Oh."

"And he's sort of right."

"What?"

"Look, I don't want to be traveling non-stop like I'd have to, but I also don't want to be away from you that long. Or from Annie and Michael."

Haley had to bite her lip to stop her smile from spreading all over her place. "I don't want to come between you and your family…"

"Haley, it doesn't matter. My family does like you; Dan's just being an ass. I don't care if disowns me or –"

"He's disowning you?" Haley asked, shocked.

"What? No. He's taking away the apartment though."

"_What_?"

"My apartment. My Dad bought it and he said that he's taking it away now."

"But, where will you live?"

"I'll figure something out. Uncle Keith was there and he said I could stay with him, Aunt Karen and Katie if I wanted, till I could find another place. Then, my Mum got really mad when she found out and said she'd talk to Dan. Don't worry about it, Haley," he added when he saw her concern. "It's okay."

She hugged him tightly and whispered, "I'm sorry."

"It's not you fault," he said and kissed her head. For a while the only sound that could be heard was the music from the stereo; then, "Do you want to dance?"

"What?"

"Dance. Do you want to?"

"But, we're just here, in my living room –"

"So?" Nathan held his hand out to her and she placed hers in it. He led her away from the couch and into the centre of the room. They slowly swayed to the music, holding each other close.

"It'll be really strange; you not living next door," Haley admitted.

"Yeah. I think that's the only thing I'm gonna miss about the apartment." As he said this, an idea popped into Haley's mind. She pondered whether to share it with him or not, but the decision was taken out of her hands when he noticed the look on her face. "What is it?" he asked.

"Er…um…you know, you could always live here…"

"Here?" Nathan wasn't sure he'd heard her correctly.

"Yeah. I mean, only if you want to, and not permanently, if you don't want, just until you find your own place." When Nathan didn't say anything she wondered why she had opened her mouth. "It was just an idea, forget it, I –"

"No, Haley, I'd love to move in with you."

"You would?"

"Yeah. I'm here so often sometimes it feels like I am living here. I was just wondering whether the kids would be okay with it."

"Are you kidding? Annie and Michael love you. I'm sure they wouldn't mind."

"Well, Jake's gonna love this," Nathan said, shaking his head.

"He doesn't hate you."

"Clearly you haven't seen the looks he's been giving me."

"It can't have been that bad."

"Let's just say that if he was a Jedi knight, I'd be dead by now."

Haley laughed. "He'll come around. With Peyton's help."

"How's she going to manage that?"

"The force." Nathan grinned at Haley's comment, but she noticed that he hadn't actually accepted yet. "So…are you staying?"

"Well, that depends on one thing."

"What's that?"

"Will I be sharing or sleeping on the couch?"

"Oh, you will most definitely be sharing."


	11. Come Lay Down

**A/N: **Well, this is it; we've come to the final chapter! Thank you to everyone who read the story, especially to those who reviewed. It's been so much fun! This was my first OTH fan fiction, but I've got loads more ideas which I will start writing now that this is finished. But, enough from me, you're here to read the end of the story and here it is. Enjoy!

**Chapter Eleven**

Haley felt the heat of the morning sun on her face, slowly forcing her to open her eyes. The sun's rays were peeking in between the closed blinds of her window, throwing a harsh light on her bedroom. Sighing, she rolled over to escape the glare and found the view on the other side of her bed much more attractive. Nathan was still asleep, lying on his stomach with his face turned towards Haley. She smiled and simply watched him for a few moments; she wanted to reach out and ruffle his hair, but he looked so peaceful that she was reluctant to wake him. Unfortunately, the blaring sound from her alarm clock did it for her.

Haley reached behind her and quickly turned the alarm off, but Nathan had already gotten up. From his side of the bed he gave her a lazy smile as he stretched. "And here I was hoping to be woken up with a kiss."

Haley leaned over to him. "You mean like this?" She gave him a quick peck on the side of his mouth.

He smirked at her. "Actually, I was thinking more like this." He pulled her against him and covered her lips with his.

When they finally broke apart, Haley grinned up at him. "Good morning."

Nathan grinned back. "Good morning." He was about to kiss her again, but she suddenly pulled away from him and moved to sit up. "Where are you going?"

"The alarm clock rang; it's time to get up."

"Hales, it's Sunday! It's too early to get up."

"But I get up at this time everyday," she said.

"But you don't even have work today!" Nathan protested, and pulled her back into his arms.

"Nathan!"

"Come on, let's sleep in. It's Sunday."

Haley was having a hard time bringing herself to argue with his pouting face, but she just replied, "Nathan you sleep in everyday."

Nathan frowned, but knew that this was true. "Okay, then I have a proposition for you." He told her, raising his eyebrow.

"Which is?" She kept her voice in check, but, in truth, she was excited by this statement.

"We can have a deal. I'll get up early on weekdays if you agree to stay late in bed on weekends."

"And will you actually wake up?"

"Yes, I will. Then I could maybe drive you and the kids to work and school in the mornings. I could always sleep when I come back, before picking you up."

"You would do that?"

"Yeah. I'm going to be living with you now, remember? Plus, it means I get to spend more time with you."

Haley's face lit up with happiness at his words. She didn't know how to reply so she just cupped his face in her hands and kissed him thoroughly.

"I guess that's a yes, then?" Nathan asked.

"Yep," Haley said in agreement, but then confused Nathan by sitting back up again.

"Hey, I thought we just agreed to stay in bed?"

"Yeah, I was just going to set the alarm. How long do you want to stay in bed for?"

Nathan looked incredulously at her and then started laughing. "Haley! The whole point of sleeping in means that you don't set your alarm, you just get up late." Without allowing her time to say anything, he wrapped his arms around her waist.

Haley gave in and snuggled her head into his chest, draping her arm across his chest. Nathan held her tightly, reveling in the feel of her body against his. Soon, his breathing evened out, but despite his comfortable position he couldn't go back to sleep. This was because Haley kept fidgeting. "Hales?"

"I think I should brush my teeth."

"Haley!"

"It feels weird because I'm used to getting up and washing at this time in the morning," she explained. "I'll just brush my teeth and come back to bed."

"If you brush your teeth, then you'll go have a shower and get dressed and make breakfast!"

"No, I promise I'll only brush my teeth, and then come straight back to bed."

"Haley," Nathan whined, but was interrupted by the sound of his cell phone. He turned his head to his right to look for his phone, and Haley took advantage of this by breaking free from his embrace.

"I'll be right back I promise," she said, and kissed his cheek.

Nathan frowned, but turned around as she looked for clothes, and reached for his jeans where they had been discarded on the floor last night. Pulling his phone out of the front pocket, he checked the caller ID before answering. "Hey, Luke, what's up?"

"Nathan! I've been calling your apartment for, like, ten minutes now; where are you? And since when do you go out this early?"

"I'm at Haley's."

"Aah." Despite the fact that he couldn't see him, Nathan knew that Lucas was currently smirking.

"Shut up."

"Hey! That's not a very nice thing to say to your brother who was just calling because he was worried about you."

"I take it you heard about last night."

"Uncle Keith told me. I had no idea Dad was so mad about you not taking the job."

"Yeah, well, you know what he's like. He has to get his own way."

"Well, Mum totally blew a fuse. I still don't think she's managed to convince him to give let you keep the apartment yet though. I'm sure she will, but just in case, you know there's always room for you at my place."

"Thanks, Luke. I really appreciate it, but that won't be necessary. Haley asked me to move in with her."

"Whoa. You guys became a couple two days ago and now you're moving in? That's kind of fast."

"Said the guy who proposed in less than two weeks?"

"Touché," Lucas laughed. "So are you gonna be ok?"

Nathan saw Haley coming back into the room just dressed in the white shirt he had worn last night and smiled. "I'm going to be great. Hey, man, thanks for checking up on me, but can I call you back?"

"Sure. You can't keep Haley waiting. Talk to you later."

"Bye." Switching his phone off, Nathan placed it on the dresser next to him, before returning his gaze to Haley. She was leaning by the bedroom door. When she noticed him looking at her, she smiled back.

"Who phoned?"

"Lucas; he just wanted to know if everything was ok. Did you brush your teeth?"

"Yep," she said, as she slowly made her way back to the bed.

"Nice outfit, by the way."

Haley blushed and stopped in her tracks. "It was just there, and I couldn't find my clothes, if you –"

"Haley! I like you in my clothes."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You look hot in them. - Not that you don't look hot in other stuff. – Actually, you look pretty hot when you're not wearing anything too, so, well…" Nathan stopped himself when he realized he was babbling much like Haley usually did. "You know what I mean."

"I think I do." Haley tried to control the smile on her face. Instead of getting back into her side of the bed, she moved so she was standing in front of Nathan, and then crawled on top of him.

He pulled her face to his, intending the kiss to be short and sweet, before they went back to bed. However, when he moved his head to the side, she kept kissing him, trailing kisses down his jaw and neck. The bed sheet had gotten bunched up around his waist, so she placed butterfly kisses all over his chest. "Haley," he groaned.

"Yes?" she asked innocently.

"Are you planning on letting me sleep this morning?"

She pouted at him. "I thought we agreed to just stay in bed. There are other things we could do aside from sleep. Unless you really want to?"

He smirked down at her as she started to grin. She knew had won this argument. Not that he was complaining.

……………

_Some time later…_

Nathan pulled his white t-shirt over his head and turned to face Haley. She too had just finished dressing, and they were about to leave her bedroom (at last). She smiled at him before they both left the room and reached the kitchen, where they were surprised to see Michael and Annie already sitting around the worktop. "Since when have you been up?" Haley asked.

"We woke up a while ago, but we thought you were still sleeping so we didn't come in," Annie explained.

"Nathan, how come you were in Mummy's room? When did you come in?" Michael inquired.

"Oh…er…well…" Haley began.

"I came in early. I had to…discuss something with your mother," Nathan replied.

"What did you have to discuss?"

"Just grown up stuff," Haley jumped in. Before Michael could ask anymore questions, she continued, "So, Nathan and I have something to tell you."

"But, you've already told us you're dating," Annie said.

"This is something else."

"Is it a good or a bad something?"

"Well, we hope you'll think its good," Nathan told her.

"Nathan is going to be living with us from now on."

When they didn't say anything, Nathan asked, "Is that okay?"

"Cool!" Michael nodded. "It's hard being the only man of the house."

Haley and Nathan laughed, and Annie got out of her seat and ran up to hug Nathan. "I'm glad you're going to be staying with us."

"Me too," he smiled.

Feeling happier than she could remember, Haley kissed Nathan, Annie and Michael each on the cheek in turn and began to make breakfast. As the children sat down at the worktop, Haley went to the counter and started pulling out some spoons from the drawer. Suddenly, she felt Nathan come up behind her, and link his arms around her stomach. "Need any help?" he whispered in her ear.

"Do you think you could get a couple of glasses for me?"

"Sure." He moved away from her and took down four glasses from the upper shelf. He proceeded to take some juice from the fridge and started pouring it out. Haley couldn't help but grin as Nathan helped her prepare breakfast. The two kept stealing glances at her, and every so often their eyes would meet, causing her face to light up even more. She loved the way Nathan looked with his disheveled hair, and knew that if her children weren't in the room with them…well, she'd just have to save those thoughts for later that night.

Haley looked back over her shoulder to check on Michael and Annie and was disappointed to see that they seemed to be arguing. "Hey, what are you two fighting about now?"

"We're not fighting; I was just telling Michael that he was wrong when he said the wish I made on the shooting star on Friday wouldn't come true," Annie told them.

"Why; did your wish come true?" Nathan asked as he gave the children their juice.

"Half of it did, so that means the other half will come true soon."

"Well, what did you wish for?" Haley questioned.

"For you and Nathan to get together."

Haley felt herself blush, and looked over at Nathan who simply grinned down at Annie and ruffled her hair. He noticed Haley's embarrassment, so he walked back over to her and placed a light kiss on her forehead. "Okay, I had no idea about that," she said quietly.

"Hey, it's okay. It's actually kind of funny. I guess Annie was smarter than us, huh?"

"Yeah." Haley felt her grin start back up again, so she forced herself to look away from Nathan, knowing that otherwise she would never finish breakfast. A few minutes later, however, she remembered something. "Annie?"

"Yes, Mummy?"

"What was the other thing you wished for?"

"A baby sister!"

THE END


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